Darkened Waters
by Lunrav14
Summary: Nine months after the events in Burgess, Pitch Black returns. MiM chooses a new Guardian that everyone knows, but one everyone slightly distrusts. It's a new war, a new Guardian, and new kids. Better buckle up. Rated K for obvious reasons.
1. Chapter 1: Nine Months Later

**This is my first RoTG fanfic, so please bear with me. This idea has been spinning in my head for MONTHS now, and I really needed to write this down. The new Guardian is my OC, but she'll come in the next chapter. I hope you like it. Disclaimer: I don't own RoTG (no duh).**

* * *

Nine months. Nine months of peace. Nine months of happiness. Nine months of wonder, hope, dreams, happy memories, and fun times. The summer had passed without incident, as did fall. December rolled around and everyone held their breath. For three weeks, there was nothing. But four days before Christmas, something started to stir.

The Guardians knew that the Nightmare King never stays down for long, and with increasing world problems, there were considerable amounts of fear in the world. But the Guardians are ready to protect the children of the world, no matter what. As long as a child believes, they will give their very lives to ensure that the children are safe.

And that is where our story starts. With the Guardians of Childhood.

* * *

It was late at night and all the children were tucked into bed. If any of them had just glanced out the window, they would see a truly wondrous sight. They would see the night sky lit up with golden streams of light, but only if they believed. But none did. They were busy dreaming of kicking the winning soccer goal or flying with fairies.

High up in the sky, Sandy watched the children dreaming. His dreamsand had already spread to all the children of this time zone and he wanted to inspect his work up close. He floated down to one of the children and he sighed. Not many kids really believed in the Sandman, but in their dreams, every child did. The little girl in front of him was dreaming of riding wild horses through the meadows. Sandy sent a small stream of dreamsand and the horses began to fly. The girl smiled in her sleep and Sandy turned away.

As he floated back up above the clouds, he spotted something in the distance. Fifteen nightmares raced away from a small town in central Iowa. Sandy quickly flew down and checked up on the kids. He frowned as he remembered that this small town couldn't have more than thirty kids at the most. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw roughly half the kids in town with nightmares. It was the third time this week something like this had happened. And it certainly wasn't a coincidence at this point.

Sandy transformed his dreamsand into a biplane and fixed his goggles into place. He took off in the direction of the North Pole as fast as that little plane could go. As the land underneath him flew by, Sandy hoped that North and the other Guardians would get the message. For once

* * *

On the other side of the world stood a long chain of mountains. You would be lucky if you could travel to the peaks of the mountains and spot a blur of color, but if you believed, you would see something really incredible. Hundreds upon thousands of little winged fairies constantly filled the skies. If you looked closely, you could see them carrying teeth. Baby teeth.

In the heart of the mountain, a palace floated in the sky. Queen Toothiana, or Tooth as she's commonly known, buzzed out teeth locations to her fairy army.

"Central incisor, sector two, quadrant three. Lower left premolar, sector seven, quadrant thirteen. Wisdom teeth? You know we don't take those," Tooth rapidly spoke to her Mini Fairies. Tooth fired off commands like this constantly as a steady stream of fairies came and went. Tooth heard a chattering from one of her fairies and she listened close.

"What? Three fairies attacked? Are they okay? Yes? Good," Tooth said to the distressed little fairy. Tooth drifted off, looking concerned. Lately, Mini Fairies had been reporting more and more nightmares wandering, but this was the first time a nightmare had directly attacked the fairies. Something was up. Tooth gestured to three senior fairies and they flew over.

"You three keep things in order, got that?" Tooth said to the three fairies. They nodded and flew into the fairy hub. Immediately, four or five fairies flew next to Tooth. They spun in the direction of the North Pole and flew off. Under normal circumstances, she would have waited until a meeting was called, but this was serious.

After all, he couldn't be back, could he?

* * *

You would be hard pressed to find the place where it is eternally spring. One, it's underground, two, there are no permanent entrances, three, it's in Australia, and four, large sentential golems are ready to kick you out if you do manage to find your way to the Warren. If you get past all of that, you'd still have to deal with the Warren's master, E. Aster Bunnymund, Bunny for short.

Bunny hopped around the Warren, checking his home. Finally, everything was back to normal. All of the flowers were back in working order, the glitter rivers flowing, the vines were repaired, and the basket supply was back up to normal. It took nearly nine months, but everything was back in working order. Bunny flopped down under a large tree and sighed. He could relax.

A shadow fell on Bunny's face and he opened one eye. There, one of his golems stood with its angry face on.

"What's up mate?" Bunny said to the golem. The golem walked over to one of the shaded alcoves and started bouncing up and down. Bunny hopped over and peered in.

"What the…" Bunny mumbled as he saw a strange sight. A coating of black sand covered the base of the alcove. Bunny picked up a small amount and threaded it through his fingers. He quickly stood up and thumped his foot twice. A hole appeared and he jumped through it. He bounded in the direction of the North Pole with a sour taste in his mouth.

MiM had better have a good explanation for this.

* * *

Most people think that the youngest Guardian doesn't have a permanent place to stay. Until he became a Guardian, he really didn't, unless you count the Burgess Pond. When the rest of the Guardians found that he didn't have a real place to call home, they badgered him constantly until he finally built a place high in the Northern Canadian Rockies. The place has rooms for all of the Guardians, and for some of the Burgess kids if they come for a visit. The owner of the 'Winter Haven', as his home has been dubbed, doesn't stay there often, but it is a nice place for Jack Frost to call home.

Jack stood on his balcony and looked out over the small villages below. He had already given most of North America their White Christmas and he was simply taking a break before heading off to Europe and Asia. On his shoulder, a small fairy fluttered. She resembled a Mini Fairy, but she had two different colored eyes, a beauty mark under her right eye, and a golden feather on her forehead. The little fairy snuggled up in Jack's hoodie and Jack turned to look at the little fairy.

"You okay Baby Tooth?" he asked. Baby Tooth let out a chirp that confirmed that she was okay and Jack smiled. He reached over and grabbed his staff. He jumped into the sky and flew east.

"We'll make a quick stop in Quebec and then I'll take you home. Sound good?" Jack asked Baby Tooth. Baby Tooth nodded and Jack sped off to Quebec. As he flew, he sent a few specialized snowflakes over the towns below. He laughed in delight as he did a few flying corkscrews and a loopty loop or two.

As he was flying over Saskatchewan, he spotted a familiar friend. He flew over and landed on the Sandman's plane.

"Hey Sandy. Where you going? Shouldn't you be in Mexico right now?" Jack asked the Sandman. Sandy quickly formed images of horses galloping around several children. He pointed at a town and Jack got the gist.

"Nightmares? Now?" Jack asked in disbelief. Sandy nodded his head and he flew on in silence. Sure, Jack had seen a few nightmares here and there, but he thought it was normal. From what he understood from Sandy, there were more than a few nightmares roaming around. Jack settled down on the plane's wings as the North Pole came into view. He spotted Tooth and Bunny coming in and he instantly knew what was up.

Shadows were rising again.

* * *

The North Pole to the normal eye looks like a flat, barren, wasteland. To eyes that believe, it is a wonderland of snow and lights. Yetis walk around building structures and making toys while the elves goof around underfoot. Two large boots parted the wave of elves as the most famous of childhood figures walked though. Santa Clause, but North is more accurate.

"Ve are behind schedule. Double time for everyvone. We must be done by Christmas!" North shouted as he walked with his lists in hand. A yeti walked up to North, showing the childhood icon a new design for a rocket.

"Not now Phil. Ve are four days from Christmas! There is no time for changes," North said as he walked through the workshop. Several elves ran around under North's boots and he sighed. This Christmas had to be extra special. After the whole Easter fiasco, the Guardians needed Christmas to restore the children's belief in them.

A yeti flagged down North by waving his paws and saying some gibberish (to our ears, not to North's). North looked up and was surprised to see his fellow Guardians flying in. Bunny ran into the Globe room and instantly took his place by the fire. North walked over as the Guardians landed, their expression's grim.

"Ah, Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, Jack, is pleasant surprise to see you. Vhat is vith the long faces?" North boomed. The other four uneasily looked at each other and then Bunny hopped up.

"Mate, Pitch is back."

* * *

North looked at the Guardians in shock. "This is bad joke, right?" he asked. Sandy shook his head furiously. Sandy quickly made some horses and showed them galloping around a few houses.

"North, nightmares attacked some of my fairies when they were on patrol," Tooth said, her face sad and concerned.

"I found this in my Warren," Bunny said opening his paw. A stream of black sand fell to the floor. The five Guardians looked at the pile of sand on the floor. North nodded his head and stroked his beard.

"If Pitch is back, he will try to ruin Christmas, just like he tried to ruin Easter. I must keep up preparations for Christmas if ve do not vant disaster," North said.

"Mate, there is no 'if'. He's back, and we got to do something," Bunny said his no-nonsense attitude.

"But what about Christmas?" North boomed. Bunny sighed in exasperation and turned to the Russian.

"Here we go again," Bunny said. "Look, you've got a full year to make toys. My googies can't last more than a week at most. If you think for one second that Easter is more important than Christmas-"

"But it is!" North retorted. The Russian and the rabbit argued like this while Tooth went back to giving Mini Fairies orders. Jack sighed and turned to Sandy.

"Does this always happen?" he asked. Sandy nodded his head and then did a face palm as the noise escalated. He peaked his eye out and saw a shaft of moonlight stream through. He tugged Jack's hoodie and pointed to the skylight. Jack looked up and nodded.

"Guys! Um, guys!" Jack shouted over the noise. Bunny and North continued arguing and Tooth most likely couldn't hear him. Sandy flew around and tried to find an elf to shake, preferably the one who drank his eggnog last time. Jack saw Sandy's efforts and shook his head. He flew out the skylight and returned with three snowballs. He threw the snowballs and each one made contact.

"WHAT!" the three Guardians shouted. Jack pointed his staff in the direction of the moon. Everyone made their way over to the mural around the Guardian stone. Jack's mural was a recent addition and it showed the winter sprite casting some ice. It had Jack's signature smirk.

"Ah, Manny, it has been a long time," North boomed. "What is problem old friend?"

The moonbeam moved over the mural and showed a dark shadow. The Guardians looked at each other and nodded.

"Told ya so," Bunny said with a smirk. North frowned and turned back to MiM.

"Manny, what must we do?" North asked. MiM responded by moving his moonbeam over the Guardian stone and shining his light over the cover. The Guardian stone appeared and began to glow. Jack looked over the stone curiously.

"Oh, this is the Guardian stone you were telling me about," Jack said. "Looks different than I thought it would. I wonder who it is."

"Please not the Groundhog, please not the Groundhog," Bunny chanted over and over. Sandy formed a clover over his head and Jack looked at him.

"The Leprechaun? You mean Patrick? I hope not," Jack said.

"What's wrong with Patrick? His teeth are very white," Tooth asked. Jack gave her a mischievous grin.

"We're on good terms, but I may or may not have buried him in a snow bank a while back."

"I'm surprised you aren't still hiding in a hole, mate," Bunny said. "His temper is legendary."

"It was a century ago. I'm sure he's over it. Personally, I hope it's not Lady Luck."

"You're on her bad side?" Bunny cautiously asked. Jack shook his head.

"Not exactly. Some young summer spirits thought it would be funny to replace my housewarming gift to her with clown flowers. Lady Luck doesn't blame me, but she won't allow me to give her anything now," Jack said. Bunny nodded and turned back to the Guardian stone. It was glowing brighter and brighter. An image started to form and everyone leaned closer in anticipation. The image cleared and everyone looked in disbelief.

"HER?!" everyone (besides Sandy) exclaimed. The hologram showed a girl with short, indigo blue hair, a light blue dress with lots of little designs on it, and a flute in her hand. Around her neck laid a circular, silver amulet with a raindrop in the middle. The Guardians exchanged nervous glances and Jack sighed.

"I'll go get her. I don't think she wants to be shoved through a sack and tossed through a magic portal."

"How y'a going to find her mate? She's like you. Never stays in one place for long," Bunny asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"She's probably in one of five places right now, but we always met up in Burgess before Christmas. Don't worry, shouldn't be too hard."

Jack flew up to a shelf and picked up a snow globe. "Might need this," he mumbled to himself before taking off into the night. The rest of the Guardians looked at each other.

"She's a good candidate," Tooth said. "She's kind, she loves kids. There's really no one better."

Bunny looked at Tooth and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just hope we can trust her."

* * *

**So...ready to meet the mysterious girl? You'll have to stay tuned for the next chapter. The rest of the chapters will be from her point of view because she will be the main character. Please review. It gives me moral support.**


	2. Chapter 2: Snowmen and Foggy Times

**Ready to meet the mysterious new Guardian? BTW, I'm making Jack Frost and my OC the same physical age, 16. I know that Jack Frost is 14 on some references and 17-18 in other references, but in my world, he's 16. deal with it. I don't own RoTG (no duh, again).**

* * *

I'm going to put this out right now: Ireland is awesome. I'm serious; Ireland is full of old magic and there is a much greater chance of getting spotted in Ireland than pretty much any other place on Earth. It's also great for spirits that are mischievous. Which is why I was flying over Ireland making the wind do my bidding. A few scattered papers here, a few flyaway hats there, and no one really seemed to care. Did I mention I love Ireland?

I touched down in a field and sighed. I felt the tug of home calling to me, or maybe it was the wind itself.

_Come on Acionna, let's go back to Burgess._

"For the last time, you are Acionna. I'm Misty Fog," I said, exasperated. For anyone else, talking to a weird voice that only you could hear would be bad. For me, it wasn't. You see that was the wind, or at least the wind that I could control.

_You are Acionna, Misty. You're me, _Acionna said. I gave up trying to argue with her long ago. Acionna was an obscure Gallo-Roman goddess who basically had zero believers and she wanted to pass on her powers to someone who could use them. So, Acionna went to Mother Nature and, after a lot of help from MiM, created me. Acionna was then turned into part of the wind and she became my companion. I think a similar thing happened to Old Man Winter. It's really complicated and it makes my head hurt to think about it.

I took my silver flute and blew a note. A small rain cloud puffed out and started to float off. My powers were not limited to the average water goddess. In fact, I was a water goddess only in name. Summer spirit might be more accurate. I had powers over water, wind, clouds, and a couple of more bizarre ones.

"Alright. Wind, take me home!" I shouted. I shot up into the clouds and I started my work. I took my flute and pushed the top and the bottom together. The flute shortened until I no longer had a flute in my hands, but a paintbrush. I ran my paintbrush over the sky and I started to paint clouds.

What? You thought it was all about evaporation and condensation of water? Well, it is that, but my clouds are different. Ever look up at the clouds and see flying pigs or alligators in tutus? That's me. If I find a good patch of clouds, I simply give a nudge here and tuck there and voila! A castle in the sky.

I flew over Burgess and I promptly turned my paintbrush back into a flute. I blew a high, light note and a thin mist covered the city. That done, I flew back up and started my masterpiece. Early morning fog is like a cover up for a painting: You want to keep your work a secret. Not like the adults would actually notice them. I did it for the kids. They liked my work.

"Hey, wait up!" I heard a voice shout. I looked down and saw a little girl that looked about eight. She had short, light brown hair and brown eyes. She held a book in her hands. I flew down and looked at the book. The cover said Mythological Spirits. I wondered if my name was in there.

"Come on Caroline. Pick up the pace!" another young girl said to Caroline. She had dark hair and dark brown eyes. "You've always got your nose stuck in that book. You know that elves aren't real."

"Oh they're real," I said, seeing if the girls would notice me. It didn't work, so I continued. "Both the Santa kind and the Lord of the Rings kind. I really should visit Lady Galadriel sometime soon."

"Oh, come on Jane," Caroline said. "They're real. Who else goofs off in Santa's workshop?"

"You still believe what your cousin Jamie said? You really believe that yetis make toys and that Jack Frost is real?" Jane said to Caroline. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, he's real. Real annoying, real sarcastic, and a real pain in the butt," I said to the girls, but more to myself.

"Caroline, be careful out there. It's misty foggy out," a woman shouted. I'm guessing that was her mother.

"How many times do I have to say it? It's Misty Fog. Without the –gy thank you very much," I said to open air. I flew after the girls and they ended up at the park. There, they met up with two other boys and another girl who looked like they were making a snow monster, I think.

I'm guessing you're curious about the fact that I'm a summer spirit and I'm in Pennsylvania three days before Christmas. Just for the record, summer spirits won't freeze in Canada and winter spirits won't melt in Mexico. I actually really like Moscow in January. It's really pretty.

"Hey James, Ian, Sarah, what'cha making? Bigfoot?" Caroline asked. A big, burly boy with messy black hair turned to Caroline and sighed.

"It's supposed to be a snowman, but it kinda collapsed," the boy said.

"Don't worry Ian," Caroline said. "We can always restart."

"It wouldn't have fallen over if James over here didn't stick the scarf on first," a girl with long, blond hair and blue eyes said to a boy with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Well, if Sarah here had built a better base, it wouldn't have fallen over in the first place," James retorted. I laughed. Twins. Definitely twins.

Caroline looked around. "Why is it so foggy?" she asked. I looked around at the growing mist.

"Oops," I said. I called the wind around me and the fog was blown away. The kids looked up to clouds in the sky. They started laughing.

"Look! A wolf with sheep's horns," Jane said.

"There's a crocodile head," Ian said, pointing to a mass of clouds.

"A bike chasing a scooter," Sarah said.

"No, a scooter getting chase by a bike," James said. The twins glared at each other and then burst out laughing.

"I see a bunny rabbit!" Caroline said. "I wish I knew how to make a snow bunny," she sighed. I smiled big.

"You want to learn how to make a snow bunny? Coming right up." I waved my hand around and a raindrop floated above my hand. I dropped it on Caroline's head and her eyes lit up. That's one of my favorite powers. I've seen a lot over the years, and Acionna is always telling me things. When I found out that I could give ideas through raindrops, I put it to good use. I usually used it on kids, but I occasionally would use it on an adult, mostly authors. I had a good time giving a U.K author the idea of witches and wizards going to school. She pounced on the idea and made millions off of it.

Caroline quickly made a large snow clump on the ground and then made five good-sized snowballs for the feet and cottontail. She made a large ball for the head and placed stones in for eyes and the nose. Caroline then took some really wet snow and made two floppy ears. Her friends came running over.

"Awesome bunny Caroline," Ian said.

"I want to make one!" Jane exclaimed. The five kids set to work making snow creatures. Ian set to work making an alligator and Sarah and James tried to make Bigfoot. I occasionally dropped a raindrop or two to inspire the kids. When they finished, there were snow flowers and snow people next to snow dinosaurs.

"That was awesome!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Definitely," James agreed. Caroline, Ian, and Jane stared at the twins.

"Did you two just agree on something?" Ian asked. Sarah and James looked at each other in shock.

"AHHHH!" they both shouted. I couldn't help but laugh at that, and neither could the kids. Caroline rolled around in the snow gasping for breath.

"Come on guys, let's go back to my place for hot chocolate," Jane said. The kids all got up and followed Jane. I flew down over them.

"Really? Time to go already?" I sighed. The kids never stayed long. I sometimes wondered why I even tried to make them see me. I sat down on a tree limb as the sun went down. I felt Acionna flying around me in concern.

_Misty, someday, you will be seen. I know it, _Acionna spoke.

"How do you know that?" I asked. "It's been three hundred years and not one kid has ever seen me."

_You forget that I've seen a lot. Being believed in is nice, but just remember that you're not ever alone. I'm right here and I'll always be right here, _Acionna said to me. I looked up at the sky at the Sandman's golden dreamsand. A stream passed next to my tree and I ran my hand through it. A stingray started to fly around me and a ghost of a smile appeared on my face.

A cold gust of wind whipped around me and I glanced around. A shadow on my left slowly crept towards me. I smiled and made a small orb of water in my hand. The figure got closer and I slowly shifted positions.

"HA!" the shadow shouted as a snowball came flying for my face. I quickly dodged it and threw the water orb. It hit the shadow in what I thought was its face. I dropped down from the trees with a smile on my face.

"That's Misty Fog at 265 and Jack Frost at 264," I said with a laugh. A teenage boy that looked maybe 16 floated out. His white hair sparkled in the moonlight and he carried a staff in his hand.

"You got lucky Raindrop," Jack said.

"I'm not lucky Snowflake. I've just got good aim," I said while inspecting my nails. Jack laughed and flew over to me.

"So are you my twin today or are you my queen?" he teasingly asked. I rolled my eyes. Half of the spirits on this planet called us the Trickster Twins because we looked and acted very similar and we were created around the same time. The other half called us the Trickster King and Queen because they thought we made the perfect couple. It drove us both crazy.

"How about just friends?" I asked. We shared a smile and then we both took off. We flew up over Burgess and landed on top of a building.

"How are you doing Misty?" Jack asked me, his voice oddly concerned. My hand instinctively went to my amulet and I forced a smile onto my face.

"Oh, I'm fine," I said casually. "By the way, congratulations on becoming a Guardian," I said, trying to change the subject. Jack glanced at me and I could tell he was forcing a smile.

"You heard about that?" Jack asked. I rolled my eyes.

"What spirit hasn't heard about it is a better question," I said. Jack smiled and that was the end of that discussion.

"So, where do you want to go for Christmas?" Jack asked me. I twirled my flute in my hand, running over options.

"Let's see…London, Paris, Chicago, New York is always good, Tokyo," I said, rattling off a couple of cities. "But I think it's your year to decide."

"It is?" he said, his voice light and humorous. "Oh right, it is. I was hoping you would like to go somewhere a little more…exotic this year."

I shrugged my shoulders. "As long as it's not anywhere in the Middle East, Central Africa, or Siberia," I said.

"Don't worry, it's not any of those places," Jack said with a laugh. I turned my head to Jack and I saw his eyes twinkling. I immediately shot up, but I wasn't quite fast enough. Jack hooked me around the waist with his staff and started spinning me around. I could vaguely make out Jack smashing a snow globe. A portal appeared and he flung me through it. I went flying through the portal and landed on a hard wooden floor rolling head over heels. I looked up and saw Jack flying through as well. He landed next to me with a smirk on his face.

"I was thinking of the North Pole."

* * *

**So now we know her name! I made Caroline Jamie's cousin because I thought it fit. I've always thought that seasonal spirits should be able to go anywhere on Earth even if it isn't their season. My evidence for this: Jack managed to go to Tooth palace, which is supposed to be in southeast Asia, and he was just fine. Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3: Me, a Guardian!

**This chapter is a little sad and I'm not sure how you guys will like it, so bear with me. I won't be able to update for a while (at least a week, maybe two) because I'm going on vacation. Please don't abandon me (or my story). Enjoy!**

* * *

I stood up groaning. Jack still had his signature smirk on his face. I turned in his direction and glared.

"I believe that's 265 for me and 265 for you," Jack said. It took a lot of restraint to avoid punching him in the face.

"Real funny, Mister Frosty Face," I spat back. I heard a snicker from behind me and I turned around. I saw four very different people behind me. A short man with golden hair and golden robes floated on the side. He caught my eye and he waved.

"Hey Sandy," I said. Sandy formed a couple of rapid sand images and I looked on confused.

"Sorry Sandy, can't read that fast," I apologized. Sandy shrugged his shoulders and I moved on. A large, 6' 1" rabbit leaned on a wooden wall. On his arms and legs were markings and he was twirling a boomerang in his hands.

"Been a little while mate," Bunny said to me, his face expressionless. I inwardly groaned.

"Would you believe me if I said I forgot the date?" I asked.

"Not really, but the nickname for Frostbite over there makes up for it," Bunny said with a smirk on his face.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed. Everyone got a good laugh out of that one. A blur of color flew around me and then I felt some delicate fingers prodding my teeth. I looked up into a kind lady's face framed by feathers.

"Hellwo Toof," I said through her fingers. Tooth smiled at me and continued to prod.

"Wow, your teeth are so white! How do you keep them so shiny?" she asked me.

"Dew dwops," I said, my mouth still full of finger.

"Tooth, fingers out of mouth," an exasperated voice said. Tooth sheepishly withdrew her fingers and I moved my jaw around in circles. I turned to a large man in a red suit and a white beard.

"Thanks North," I said, still trying to crack my jaw. North laughed and then clapped me on the shoulder. I nearly fell over from the pressure.

"Is good to see you Misty Fog. How are you?" I resisted every urge to touch my amulet.

"Pretty good considering that the King of Bad Practical Jokes just threw me through a magic portal," I sarcastically said.

"Ah good, it always works," North said while walking away. I turned to Jack in disbelief. Jack met my eye and he frowned slightly. I walked away and looked at the five Guardians.

"So, what brings you five all together? I don't think I did anything bad enough to get on the naughty list," I said. North laughed.

"You are joking, right? You and Jack hold record," North said. Jack and I shared a smile. "But that does not matter anymore," North continued. "Just like Jack, we are wiping the slate clean."

"Why?" I asked, growing suspicious.

"Jack did not tell you? We are wiping the slate clean because now you are Guardian!" With that, elves carrying musical instruments marched in playing a fanfare. I summoned a gust of wind before this got any more hectic. The elves went scattering and a tuba-playing elf got caught up in the jet stream and started flying around.

"Are you guys CRAZY!?" I shouted. "You want ME to be a Guardian!?" The Guardians looked at me in shock. I sighed.

"Look, I'm honored. I really am, but do you realize how BAD of an idea this is?" I asked. "You guys know what happened to me. Pitch comes back…I'm putting the kids in danger. I'm putting you in danger. I have to say no."

"I told'ja this would happen. Maybe it's for the best mate," Bunny said with a sigh. Jack glared daggers at Bunny.

"For the best my foot," he said. "She loves kids, she loves protecting them, and she's certainly better qualified to become a Guardian than I was."  
"For once, we agree on something," Bunny said. Jack looked ready to punch the Pooka in the face. North walked over to me and looked me in the eye.

"Come with me," he said. I followed him as he led me through his workshop. I watched the yetis make toys and I saw flying, twirling spheres zoom around the shop.

"Hold up!" I shouted to North. "Jack and I have tried to bust in for years. Never got past the yetis though. Hey Phil!" I shouted to a passing yeti. He shook his fist at me and then went back to making a robot. We climbed some stairs and then we came to a room. North opened the door and we walked into his private workroom. North motioned to a chair and I sat down. North brought over a mug of coco and I sipped it quietly. He sat down in a different chair and faced me.

"Misty, you know more about the Guardians than almost any spirit out there, besides us," North told me. I nodded my head. For a long time, Acionna was an honorary Guardian. "You know about centers, you know what we do, and you know that we do not choose Guardians, Manny does. Why do you refuse?"

"North, you know what happened to me. You know what happened to Stella," I quietly said.

"That was not your fault. She would want you to move on and to stop being so sad," North gently said. I suppose you deserve an explanation. Roughly thirty years ago, I met a spirit named Stella. Stella was a spirit called a Creation. Creations were spirits that were formed during large bursts of imagination. They aren't rare, but they generally aren't good or bad spirits. Stella, however, was about as good as good got. She knew everyone and many spirits really liked her. No one thought anything could ever happen to her, but twenty-rive years ago they were proven wrong

* * *

_I stood on the edge of a building, waiting for Stella to arrive. It was a crisp, fall day and the wind was blowing through my hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I say a boy flying towards me. He had bright orange hair and softer orange eyes. He wore an orange t-shirt and brown pants. On his left hand, he wore an intricately carved ring._

"_Hey Auty, what's up?" I called to the fall spirit. He landed next to me, gasping._

"_Misty, I saw some black horses take Stella into the forest," he said gasping for breath. "There were too many for me to fight on my own, but I came here as fast as I could." I looked to the forest next to the town and I made up my mind._

"_Get Jack, Lily, and possibly Sandy here, fast. I'm going after Stella," I told him. Auty nodded and I took off. I flew deep into the forest and landed among a string of trees. The forest was old and it had a sinister feel to it._

"_Stella!" I shouted. My voice echoed around the trees and I felt very uneasy, as if someone was watching me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow move. I slowly followed it and I ended up next to a clearing. There, I saw Stella bound with ropes made out of shadows. Her long, golden hair was blowing in the wind and her golden spaghetti strap dress slightly fluttered. Stella looked up and met my eyes. She had barely shaken her head when I snapped around and saw at least fifty black horses coming closer to me. I backed up to Stella and quickly freed her. We stood back to back as the shadows circled us._

"_Remember, don't let them touch you," I told Stella. She made starlight bolts in her hands and looked at me._

"_You don't need to remind me," she replied. We sprang into action. Stella fired her bolts into the nightmares and they exploded. I had learned years ago that you can't fight with a flute or paintbrush, but you can fight with a staff. I pulled my flute in two separate directions and it expanded into a long, silver staff. It had no decorations except for a blue crystal in the center. I wrapped my hands around the staff and I hit nightmare after nightmare. We kept fighting, but nothing seemed to stop the onslaught of nightmares. _

"_Misty, look out!" I heard Stella scream. I didn't have time to turn before a black arrow hit me in the chest. Instantly, my head felt like it was on fire and I could feel my body going numb. My worst fears swam through my head and I screamed in pain. I sank down to the ground and a man with sickly pale skin and a long, black robe stood over me. He gave me an evil smile and formed a second arrow. _

"_Sweet dreams," Pitch said. He fired it, but it never made contact. It froze in his hands and I looked up. There, I saw Jack holding his staff and glaring at Pitch. Behind him, I saw Auty form a fire ball in his hands, Sandy form a dreamsand whip, and a girl with bright green hair, a pink t-shirt, and green pants holding darts made of spiky weeds, Lily. Sandy snapped his whip at Pitch and he flew backwards._

"_Don't you dare touch her," Jack growled and they attacked. They took care of the nightmares while Stella flew over to me. She took her starlight and started to draw out the nightmare sand. Sandy saw what Stella was doing and he floated over. He laid a small amount of dreamsand on my heart and I heard a voice speak._

_**Misty, can you hear me? **__I looked at Sandy and nodded my head._

_**Wow, you're fast. I need you to think happy thoughts. That's the only way we're going to get that nightmare sand out, okay?**_

_I started to think some happy thoughts, but it was difficult to think straight. I eventually focused on the time I had learned to fly right. I slowly felt my body become less numb. After a little while, I was able to sit up. Stella continued to draw out the nightmare sand, and the nightmares lessened. I looked at Stella and smiled. We had won._

_What happened next, I don't think anyone expected. The nightmares flew together into one large mass and they charged straight at me. No matter how hard Sandy, Auty, Lily, and Jack attacked it, it still kept moving towards me. Stella quickly took her starlight and condensed it into an amulet. It was silver, circular, and it had a raindrop in the middle. She gave it to me and she smiled sadly. She then turned to the wave of nightmares and the mass struck right in her heart. She slumped to the ground and the nightmares flew off. I quickly crawled over to her. Her face was a mask of pain and I knew it was too late._

"_Stella, I'm sorry," I whispered, my eyes filling with tears. She shook her head and grasped my hand._

"_No Misty, I'm sorry. I couldn't draw out all of the nightmares. There's still a splinter in your heart. It's enough that Pitch could potentially control you. That amulet will keep the darkness at bay, but only you can get that splinter out. You have to conquer your worst fear in order to get rid of it."_

_Stella sighed and gave me a smile. "Fear is strong, but you are stronger Misty. Don't be sad, my friend." She closed her eyes and she faded away. I hugged the amulet close to my chest and cried. Jack, Sandy, Auty, and Lily looked on with bowed heads. The wind stopped blowing and the animals fell silent. Even the stars themselves seemed to be mourning the loss of a great friend._

_Because that night, not one was twinkling._

* * *

I came back to reality, my mind still slightly shaken. That day still haunted me. Twenty-five years later, that splinter was still inside my chest. It was a constant reminder that I was a danger to those around me. Sure, I still had friends, but a lot of spirits no longer trust me, and they have a good reason not to. I had tried everything to get rid of the splinter, but for some reason, I couldn't locate my worst fear. I looked up at North, sighing.

"Maybe you're right, but I still think it would be best if I didn't become a Guardian. I'm sorry North," I said to him. North nodded and held my hands.

"I understand, but perhaps we can change your mind," he said. We stood up and walked out of the workshop. A hopping noise came from the stairs and Bunny hopped over to us.

"We've got a problem mate. Trouble at Sandy's island."

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**Man, that was sad. Remember, i won't be able to update for a while, but please keep that in mind. You've already guessed that this fanfic is closely modeled after the movie, but there will be some changes and, well, if you follow the movie, you can guess where this is going. Please review, and see you soon.**


	4. Chapter 4: Sandy's Island

**Sorry about the wait, but here it is. I went on vacation and my flight landed at 11:30 last night, so I was scrambling to get this done for you guys. I don't own RoTG and since you probably want to read, I'll shut up now.**

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North quickly stomped down the stairs while grabbing a large red coat, two sabers, and a big, furry hat. Jack, Tooth, and Sandy (who looked really worried) joined us and we walked down to the stables. Sandy had a physical connection to his home. If it was in trouble, he would know instantly.

"Everyone to the sleigh!" he shouted as yetis scrambled around. Was he joking? I saw yetis carrying reindeer harnesses and horseshoe equipment. Apparently not. A few yetis shoved me out of the way and I tried not to send destructive gusts of wind around.

"If you think for one second I'm getting into some run down, falling apart sleigh then you are gravely…" I stopped as a large fighter jet like structure came out of the storage bay. Like in the songs, there were eight reindeer pulling the sleigh, but I think there was something equivalent to a GPS on the front. North turned to me with a smug look on his face.

"…mistaken," I finished trying, and probably failing, to not look shocked. "One ride. That's it," I said, jumping up into the back.

"Everyone loves the sleigh," North replied while getting in. Tooth fluttered in and sat down next to a worried Sandy. Jack jumped in and stood across from me.

"It's going to me cold, you know," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"It can't be any worse than Antarctica," I replied. Jack had dared me to spend a night in Antarctica. Let's just say the outcome wasn't pleasant.

"Still, you're a SUMMER spirit. Hence the heat. You might want to bundle up," he said, oddly concerned. Jeez, what was up with him?

"Okay, fine," I said. I whipped out my paintbrush and quickly painted a light blue cape. I tapped the cloud image and a real cape fell into my arms. I draped it around my shoulders and turned to Jack.

"Happy?" I sarcastically said. Jack grinned and I got the message. Still confused about the cape thing? I found out that my powers aren't limited to just white clouds. I can make them different colors if I want to (annoying weather people don't like oddly colored clouds so I tend to avoid them). I also found out that I could literally create anything that comes to mind. All I have to do is paint what I want (in this case, a cape) and then touch it. Voila! I have a real cape (I chose a cape over a coat because a cape is warmer than a coat, and it looks cooler).

I looked down to the ground and I saw Bunny standing there, looking nervous. I grinned at the rabbit's distress.

"Scared of heights, Easter Jackrabbit?" I tauntingly said. Bunny gave me a glare that could've melted ice. Jack grinned and gave me a high-five.

"Nice one Misty. Personally, I like Easter Kangaroo better," he said. I gave him a wide grin. He looked over my shoulder and waved at Bunny.

"Come on Bunny, get in the sleigh," Jack said.

"Not on your nelly," Bunny said stamping his foot on the ground. I quickly brought up my staff underneath him and threw him onto the sleigh. He landed with a large thump. He gave me my second death glare of the day. North brought up the reins and turned to us.

"Buckle up," he said. I looked around the sleigh, slightly confused.

"Just out of the question, where are the seat belts?" I asked. North let out a large booming laugh.

"That is just expression," he said. "Are we ready?" he asked a yeti. The yeti let out a spurt of gibberish that probably meant something along the lines of "This thing is not going to take off!" North gathered up the reins. "Here we go!" he shouted and snapped the reins. We took off at a faster speed than that of a jet. I hung onto the side and laughed out loud.

"Woooohoooo!" I shouted. Jack had a similar expression on his face, Tooth looked like she was having fun, and Sandy, while still very worried at this point, had his arms stuck straight up. Bunny, on the other hand, looked terrified. North looked back at us.

"I hope you like the loopty loop!" he shouted as we went upside-down. I laughed again and I must have had a big, stupid grin on my face. I looked at Bunny who looked ready to hurl.

"I prefer carrots, mate," he said as we came shooting out of the tunnel. I got my first good look at the North Pole. It was a majestic land of ice that was full of lights. Large warehouses and workshops were carved right out of the ice. I hung over the edge of the sleigh, admiring the view.

"Hey Bunny, check out this view," I said, catching Jack's eye. He nodded and gave me a mischievous grin. He walked across the sleigh and pretended to trip on a step. His staff crashed into me and I fell off, screaming. I quickly grabbed the runners and held on tightly. Bunny peaked his nose over the edge and he had a worried look on his face. He caught sight of me and I grinned.

"Surprise," I said. Bunny's face turned into a grimace.

"Auh, rack off y'a bloody show pony," he said. I flew back up and landed on the sleigh. I settled back down as North took out a snow globe.

"I say, Sandman's Island," North said as he threw the snow globe. We passed through the magic portal and came out the other side. Jack and I had been to Sandy's island before. It's a large island covered in golden sand with the sides sloping up into a small hill at the top. At the top of the hill was a golden palace right out of a fairy tale. Under normal circumstances, some permanent dream helpers would be floating around. Dream helpers are dreamsand creations that are shaped like common dream figures. They can think, talk, and they help Sandy spread his dreams. They're like Pitch's nightmares, but more powerful, and not as plentiful.

Of course, why would it be a normal circumstance?

Nightmares flew around snatching the dream helpers out of the sky. Some of the bigger dream helpers held their own, but the nightmares soon overwhelmed them. A dream helper is not going to be turned into nightmare dust like a regular dream would. It would take a direct attack from Pitch to turn even one into a nightmare.

I jumped of the sleigh and rammed my staff into a nightmare about to take a little sand fairy. I cupped her in my hands and flew back down. She looked like your classic Tinkerbell fairy, but she was entirely golden. She had a short dress on and long hair. You could barely make out little carved facial features and wing patterns. I remembered this fairy.

"You okay Little Sand?" I asked. The little fairy nodded her head and passed out in my hands. Jack, Tooth, and Sandy tried to take flight, but the nightmares prevented them from helping out the rest of the dream helpers. Instead, Jack and Bunny started to throw blasts of ice and boomerangs respectively. The ice blasts were very effective at stopping the nightmares and the boomerangs scattered them into sand. There wasn't enough room to pull out a dreamsand whip, so Sandy improvised with a ball of dreamsand. When the dreamsand hit the nightmares, they turned into streams of golden sand, but too many still remained. North turned to me.

"Take the reins!" he shouted. I handed Little Sand to Tooth and snapped the reins. North stood up and slashed the nightmares with his swords. I did my best to navigate the sleigh, but I think we all learned that I really shouldn't drive a sleigh anytime soon.

North took the reins back and steered us down to the island. At this point, the island was deserted and it was very quiet. Sandy floated around in shock, running his fingers through the not-so-golden-anymore sand. Jack flew over and placed his hand on Sandy's shoulder. The rest of Guardians gathered around Sandy mournfully. Tooth opened her hands and Little Sand fluttered out. Sandy gave a small smile and patted the fairy's head.

"I have to say, this is disappointing," a voice said from above us. I looked up and saw a very unwelcome sight. A pale man in a dark robe flew above the island. He had a smirk on his face and his yellow eyes seemed to pour into my soul. He was floating on a cloud of nightmare sand and I shuttered.

"Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost all in one place? And unable to rescue a few dream helpers? I was expecting more of a challenge," Pitch said in a mocking tone. Jack glared at Pitch and looked ready to blast him out of the sky. Sandy, normally calm, was staring daggers at the nightmare king. Pitch's cloud floated lower and I felt my heart beat faster. I forced myself not to think about the splinter.

"Well, well, well, could this be Misty Fog?" Pitch said in a tone that sent shivers up my spine. He floated closer and I drew back. "Haven't you learned your lesson yet, or do we need a repeat of what happened to Stella?"

"I guess I didn't considering I'm here," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. Pitch gave me a smile that could easily be considered creepy and floated away. He flew a distance away and Bunny turned to him.

"Didn't y'a learn your lesson?" he asked in a threatening tone. "It's been nine months, not nine years. There's no way you can be back to full power." Pitch gave a shallow laugh and swirled a stream of nightmare sand in his fingers.

"Don't you remember rabbit? There will always be fear, and not just from children. Teenagers have fear, adults have fear, even spirits have fear. With all of the terror that has happened lately, it wasn't very hard to come back to full power."

"We beat you once, we can beat you again," Jack said with a snarl. Pitch glanced at Jack and gave us a taunting smile.

"Perhaps you can, but did you ever consider this?" With that, Pitch whipped around to face me. He held out his hand and his eyes glowed with a yellow light. I felt myself moving, but I wasn't in control of my body. The little sliver had allowed Pitch to take control of me.

"I think you forgot a little detail concerning Misty," he said as he floated away. He gestured with his hand and I unwillingly let a gust of wind blow the around the Guardians. The wind prevented Sandy and Tooth from taking off and when Bunny threw a boomerang at Pitch, the wind didn't allow it to go far before coming back. Pitch summoned his nightmare sand and disappeared with a laugh.

While this was going on, Jack flew over to me and used a counter wind to try and stop me. Our winds collided and we floated there in a stalemate as the winds battered each other. Eventually, I felt my wind weakening and Pitch's hold on me lessen. Jack gave one final push and I collapsed on the ground. Jack flew over and sat on the sand next to me.

"Misty, you okay?" he asked. I nodded my head and Jack turned to the rest of the Guardians.

"She's back to normal," he said and they came over to me. Sandy gave me a smile and Little Sand floated onto my shoulder. Tooth helped me stand up and I tried to not meet anyone's eyes. It was my fault that Pitch had escaped after all.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled to the sand below me. North patted my shoulder and I looked into his eyes, dark brown meeting brilliant blue. They showed a deep kindness that very few spirits had ever given me.

"There is no blame," he said to me in a kind tone. "The only blame is on Pitch." Bunny hopped over and nodded in my direction.

"He's right, but what do we do now? Without the dream helpers, the dreamsand is going, well, sand like. Can't give dreams with this stuff," Bunny said as he poured a fistful of beach sand onto the ground. Sandy floated in silence as he watched his island fall into ruin. The sand on his body was slowly turning tan and we looked on not knowing what to do. We couldn't just give kids dreams…wait a minute.

"Sandy, is the well okay?" I quickly asked. Sandy looked up in surprise before nodding his head. Jack looked at me and then smiled in understanding.

"Of course, the well!" Jack exclaimed. He flew up the hill and we quickly followed. At the top of the hill was a well with golden water inside. North, Bunny, and Tooth looked at the well curiously.

"What is this?" Tooth asked.

"From what Jack and I could gather, a drop of this water can turn an entire beach's worth of sand into dreamsand. Sandy also told us that dreams don't have to be delivered just by dreamsand. Just about any small object will work. Like raindrops."

"Or snowflakes," Jack continued.

"Or feathers," Tooth put in, catching on.

"Or glitter," Bunny said smiling.

"Or even candy cane dust," North said with finality. I quickly painted some glass bottles and scooped up some of the water for each of the Guardians.

"Until Sandy can get his sand back to normal, we can give the kids dreams," I said. I met Jack's eye and he gave a ridiculously big smile.

You can probably guess what happened next.

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**No need to explain what's going to happen next. I'm going to get the next chapter up as soon as possible to make up for the wait. **

**To PeachtreeAmuto, Sandy didn't attack because the nightmares were far off in the distance and his first priority was the kid's safety, not hunting down nightmares. I hope that makes a little bit of sense.  
**

**Please review my story because I can't know your ideas if you don't critique (nicely though). The next chapter will be up soon, so please stay with me *puppy dog eyes*...never mind, I can't do cute.  
**


	5. Chapter 5: 'Helping' Sandy

**Do I even have to explain anything? I don't own RoTG, so enjoy (and please review!).**

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North opened a portal over France and I looked over Paris. I had been here before, but Paris always looks better at night. The lights, the people, the shopping, and the Eiffel Tower. Gorgeous. There are few sights as beautiful as Paris at night.

We dropped from the sleigh and started to spread the dreams. Remember, Sandy was weakened by Pitch and couldn't do a lot of dream-spreading at once and Jack and I had only tried it once or twice, so we had to do it basically kid by kid.

I flew around to the kids and, after doing a little bit of experimenting, dropped dream-filled raindrops on their heads. The raindrops didn't have the same effect that dreamsand did, but a dream appeared over their heads nonetheless. I constantly kept a floating water orb next to me so I wouldn't have to constantly remake the raindrops. Acionna was very helpful.

_I took a look around. There are fifteen different houses with kids on this block._

"Thanks Acionna," I said as I flew along. I entered one kid's room and Little Sand flew over to the kid motioning for me to come closer. I flew over and I watched her take my raindrop and add a pinch of dreamsand to it. She dropped it on the kid's head and the dream became a lot clearer. Little Sand then sprinkled a little bit of dreamsand onto my water orb and it turned a stronger shade of gold.

"Thanks Little Sand," I whispered. Little Sand nodded and flew back onto my shoulder. Did I have to whisper? No, but I wanted to think the kids could see me, so I whispered as to not wake them up. I flew out of the kid's room and proceeded to more houses. The dreamsand infused raindrops worked really well and I was able to personalize a few of the dreams. I tried to stay to gender-neutral themes like swimming and kite flying.

While I was at a kid's house, I felt something wooden come around my waist and yank me out of the way. I glared at Jack as he dropped a snowflake on the kid's head. He looked my way and gave me a mischievous grin.

"Oh, it's on," I said to Jack, still staring him down. I flew out of the kid's window and flew to another house, only to find Bunny already there. I threw my raindrop at the kid's head and it made contact. Bunny looked up in surprise before jumping out of the kid's bedroom and onto the roof.

"Jack and I already started the contest. Want to join?" I asked. Bunny gave me a confirming grin.

"You don't want to race a rabbit, mate," he said before taking off faster than I thought a rabbit could bounce. A blue and green blur flew past me followed quickly by an eight-reindeer sleigh. A golden plane flew past us and I glanced over at Jack. He gave me a wide grin.

"No Misty, NOW it's on," he said as he took off after the Guardians. I quickly flew after him towards the next city.

Things got really crazy, really quick.

* * *

I zoomed past Jack and dropped raindrops on the kids as I flew by. Five houses covered in less than ten seconds. Not to be outdone, Jack flew past me and found a household with close to thirteen kids. I peeked in and saw they were all about the same age, and they were all girls.

"Slumber party," I groaned. I rocketed to a house and found North about to give a dream. I sent a thick layer of fog and snuck in the house. I dropped the dream on the kid's head and flew out. I then waved away the fog and North stuck his head out the window, trying to fan away the fog.

"You are on naughty list!" he shouted to me as I flew away laughing. I flew into a different house and a swarm of blue and green appeared in front of my face. I felt lots of little hands pry my mouth open and I felt them being brushed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tooth giving the kid a dream about teeth.

"Toof," I said through the brushing, "Pweese helpf." She gave me a wink and flew out. The Mini Fairies abandoned my brushing and flew after their queen. I moved my jaw around a little bit and shook my head. Little Sand was on my shoulder laughing. I ignored her and flew out of the kid's room. I glanced in another window and saw a very interesting sight. Somehow, North and Bunny had gotten stuck in one tunnel hole. I causally flew through the window and dropped a raindrop on the girl's head.

"Misty, that's my dream," North said as he desperately tried to escape.

"No, it's mine," Bunny retorted as he tried to force the tunnel to become bigger. I tried to hold in my laughter until I made it out of the room, but I miserably failed. North and Bunny gave me a death stare as I flew out of the room holding my sides. Sandy flew by me and peeked into the window. He gave me a silent laugh and continued on the block. I hit a few more houses before a swirl of wind surrounded me.

_I got a message from Old Man Winter. He says that Jack wants to team up against the rest of the Guardians, _Acionna said. Wind spirits can communicate with each other, so long distance communication isn't a problem.

"Tell him yes," I said as I flew around the French countryside. I spotted Jack in the distance and flew over to him.

"You ready?" he asked me.

"The two of us against the four of them?" I asked Jack. He gave me a smirk and I responded with a smile. We both flew off in separate directions: him towards the U.K, me towards Spain.

_You do realize that's not fair at all, _Acionna said as we flew along.

"I know. It's not fair for the Guardians at all," I replied as we passed over Spain. I tackled a whole city's worth of children before Bunny managed to catch up. He hopped next to me and we tackled the rest of the city.

"Where's Frostbite mate?" Bunny asked as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

"Oh, somewhere in England I think. Why?" I asked as I lazily flew next to him.

"I thought you two would have teamed up by now to kick our butts or something," Bunny said. I gave him a wide grin and I thought I saw his face pale, if that's possible on a rabbit.

"Cricky!" Bunny shouted as he bounded away from me. "North! We've got the Trickster Twins against us!" I laughed as I finished up Spain. I flew over the Atlantic Ocean and caught a glimpse of Jack. He laughed when I caught up with him and playfully pushed me away with his staff. Our eyes met and we smiled, my dark brown eyes reflecting off his ice blue ones. We flew in silence for a little bit, allowing the ocean to pass us by. Baby Tooth and Little Sand chatted as we flew along. Jack lazily ran his staff along the waves as a bunch of dolphins leaped out of the water.

"I thought I heard Bunny screaming like a little girl when I passed over the coast of Spain," Jack commented. "I wonder who could have done that?"

"Guilty as charged," I said as I gathered a light mist around me. The dolphins seemed to like it and started whistling and clicking. Jack made a frost dolphin and it started jumping through the waves as well. The dolphins found this very funny. We stayed like that for a while: two seasonal spirits, a tooth fairy, a dream helper, and some playful dolphins riding the waves.

The American coast came into view and we snapped back to reality. We zoomed in the direction of New York City, leaving the dolphins to their mischief. We weaved in and out of the buildings spreading dreams as we did flips in the air. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted a sleigh coming through a portal in the sky. I turned to Jack and gave him an uneasy look.

"Tell you what, I'll go south, you go north, and we'll meet in Burgess," I said as the sleigh neared us.

"Good idea," Jack said as we bolted in two different directions. The sleigh started following Jack and a golden biplane followed me. I quickly drew a pair of binoculars and looked at the plane. It was just Sandy coming after me. My stomach did a 180* turn as I flew to Virginia.

Maybe this would be more difficult than I thought.

I flew closer to the ground and I started spreading dreams as fast as possible. Sandy was the expert in giving detailed, wonderful dreams, so my only comfort was speed. Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida were covered in the blink of an eye. Once I reached the Gulf of Mexico, I turned around and flew faster than a jet back to Burgess, hoping to leave Sandy in the dust. Burgess flew beneath me and I dived down to one particular house. I landed in the kid's room and froze. Somehow, someway, Sandy was already there. He was sprinkling dreamsand over a little girl with short brown hair. On the girl's wall was a drawing of a snow bunny. Sandy looked up at me and smiled.

**Your work?** Sandy asked as he motioned to the bunny drawing.

"Maybe, maybe not," I replied. After the incident twenty-five years ago, Sandy had kept his mind connection with me. He also checked up on me frequently. Sandy was like an uncle to me. I could always talk to him and he wouldn't question me.

**I remember when I could do this kid by kid. Once the population reached five million though, it got difficult to do a personal visit for every child, **Sandy said as I saw the dream play out over Caroline's head. She was reliving the day she had just had. I saw her make the snow bunny and then a snow rose that took her most of the day. I smiled sadly. I didn't remember my childhood. I didn't know if I even had a childhood.

"Sandy, do you remember who you were before you were a Guardian, or even a spirit?" I asked. Sandy looked at me kindly.

**Yes, I remember who I was. Every one of us was someone different before they became spirits. Do you not remember? **he asked me. I shook my head.

"I don't remember being a little kid. All I remember is from when I was born until now," I said. Sandy floated up, patted my shoulder and gave me a smile.

**Someday, you will know. I promise, **Sandy said to me. I gave him a ghost of a smile and went back to watching Caroline.

A creaking noise from the window turned both of us around. I saw Tooth and Jack trying to force North through the window. They both gave one last shove and North fell through. Jack and Tooth fell in behind him and the three of them ended up in a pile on the floor. North untangled himself from the pile and walked over to us with a big smile on his face.

"Sandy, you look better already!" North boomed. Tooth, Jack, and Sandy shushed him and I laughed. They weren't invisible to the kids, but I was, so no problems with noise. A hole appeared and Bunny hopped out, looking annoyed.

"And here I was thinking that only Frostbite and Aquagirl had teamed up," Bunny said with a frown. Sandy, North, and Tooth looked at me with smiles on their faces. I must have looked really angry because Jack started laughing.

"Aquagirl? Looks more like Miss Angry Alice," he said with a laugh. I causally formed a water sphere over his head and dropped it. The sphere exploded, drenching Jack in water from head to toe. Everyone burst out laughing as the water hardened on Jack's body, causing him to look like an icicle demon.

"Now he looks like Frostbite," I said while holding my sides in laughter. The laughing spree continued while Jack broke off the icicles and threw the out the window. He was almost back to normal when a bright light turned on. We all froze as we saw Caroline holding a flashlight. Oops.

"Santa?" she began as the beam of light passed over North. "The Easter Bunny? Sandman? The Tooth Fairy? Jack Frost? Jamie was right!" Caroline asked in wonder. I smiled wide.

"She can see us!" I exclaimed in excitement. I watched the flashlight beam pass over me and I felt my heart being torn in two. This was worse than when kids walked through me. Jack looked my way and I could tell he felt sorry for me.

"Most of us," Bunny replied. My smile faltered and I was about to turn away when I heard a growling noise. A small dog stood on the edge of the bed and was growling fiercely at Bunny.

"Fluffy, no!" Caroline said to the dog. It was entirely gray and it had a long snout. Jack looked the dog over and laughed.

"That looks like one of Abby's puppies. Am I right?" he asked Caroline. She nodded.

"Got her from my cousin six months ago, and she should be trained! Fluffy, don't growl at the Easter Bunny," she continued. Bunny stood his ground and looked the dog in the eye.

"Alright, nobody panic," Bunny began.

"You do realize that's a greyhound, and that greyhounds eat rabbits," I asked.

"I'm gonna bet that she's never seen a rabbit like me. Six-foot-one, nerves of steel, master of tai-chi…" While Bunny was rambling on about how he wasn't the usual rabbit, I quickly tied a dog treat to Bunny's tail. Fluffy jumped down and started chasing after Bunny.

"Cricky!" Bunny shouted as they leaped around the room. "Sandy, do something!" Sandy formed a ball of dreamsand and threw it at Fluffy. Unfortunately, the ball bounced off the wall, hit Tooth, and North, bounced off a mirror, Jack, Baby Tooth, and Bunny, and finally hit Fluffy as she jumped on the bed. Caroline flew up into the air and I caught her. Sandy nodded his head and Caroline instantly fell asleep. I placed her on her bed and surveyed the damage. Four Guardians, one greyhound, and one kid asleep, a partially wrecked room, and dreamsand carrots using dreamsand candy canes to fight dreamsand snowflakes. I drew a camera and took a few photos.

A whiny from outside turned my head. A few nightmares stood there and they galloped off. I flew out of the window and motioned for Sandy to follow.

"Come on! I feel like settling a score!" I shouted as I raced after the nightmares. Sandy followed me as the nightmares raced down the street.

That turned out to be the worst mistake of my life.

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**Guess where this is going. I won't give any hints to what's going to happen next, but let's just say this: it won't be pretty. The next chapter will be up as soon as life will allow me to, so stay tuned (and please, please, please review)**


	6. Chapter 6: A Legend Falls

**From the chapter name, you can probably guess what is going to happen so before reading, please either say this next sentence out loud, or at least read it.**

**I, (insert name here), promise to not gather an angry mob and go over to Lunrav14's house demanding retribution or some dismembered body part (including the head). I also promise to refrain from killing Lunrav14 until this fanfic is done. This I swear on the Man in The Moon (considering its an RoTG fanfic).  
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**Okay, now that's taken care of, you may read the story. I don't own RoTG and please review afterwards (and do not locate the nearest pitchfork).  
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Sandy and I raced through town chasing the nightmares. The nightmares ran all over town, but Sandy and I kept pace as we weaved through the houses. We flew through an abandoned warehouse, crashing though boxes, barrels, crates, and I think I heard a really angry cat hiss at us. As we exited the warehouse, Sandy managed to touch one of the nightmares and it swirled around until a dolphin appeared where the horse had been.

While Sandy was doing that, I chased the second nightmare into a corner and used a gust of wind to trap it. I fingered a raindrop in my hand and the horse retaliated.

"I didn't think nightmares were afraid of anything," I said as I threw it into the wind. The raindrop made contact with the nightmare and the nightmare turned into a pile of golden sand. I quickly painted a flask and scooped the sand into the glass bottle. I then did a little bit of magic and a small white bottle design appeared on my dress, the glass bottle gone. Pockets are a pain, so I store small objects on my dress. I flew back up, looking for my friend.

"Hey Sandy!" I yelled. I looked around, but I couldn't find the little golden man anywhere. I looked at Little Sand and she shrugged her shoulders. I scratched my head in confusion and flew off in a random direction. "Sandy!" I called, starting to get a little nervous. I kept turning around, expecting Pitch to jump out of every shadow. I didn't see anything behind me, but I expanded my flute into a staff and flew onto the roof of a building. The roof was empty, so I relaxed a little bit.

"Misty," a hard voice behind me said. I whirled around and came face to face with Pitch Black. He had a sneer on his face. "What are you doing here? I thought the Guardians would have kicked you out after the little show you put on."

"It seems the Guardians are more accepting than you thought," I said with malice. I wasn't going to let Pitch get the best of me anymore.

"Perhaps, but I'm not here to fight you," he said with a nonchalant tone in his voice. He walked away from me and I noticed a very angry Sandy standing not five feet away from Pitch. His arms were crossed and he was staring Pitch down. Pitch took a glance at Sandy and gave a short laugh.

"Now Sandy, I though we were over that little-" Before Pitch could finish, Sandy flung a dreamsand whip at Pitch. It slammed into Pitch and he went flying back. Pitch picked himself up and formed a large scythe out of the nightmare sand. He swung it at Sandy who dodged the attack. Sandy snapped his whip and it wrapped around the scythe. With a flick of his wrist, he flung it out of the way and then proceeded to wrap a whip around Pitch's waist. Sandy then flung Pitch into the sky and slammed him into the pavement below. I, meanwhile, looked on in shock.

"Note to self, do not make Sandy mad," I said as Sandy floated next to me. He gave me a smirk that said it all. We flew down as Pitch was scrambling to his feet.

"Okay, okay, you can't blame me for trying," Pitch retaliated. Sandy's eyes were burning with hatred and my anger was rising too. We walked closer as Pitch finally made it to his feet. "It wasn't the best of ideas to attack so soon, and it wasn't the best of ideas to mess with your dreams. So, I've got a better idea…" Pitch looked up and his eyes glowed yellow.

"Why don't you take them back!" With that, hoards of nightmares surrounded us. They came from over the rooftops, from the alleyways, and some appeared right out of the shadows themselves. Sandy and I moved back to back as the nightmares circled us.

"Which half do you want?" I asked Sandy. He gave me a shoulder shrug and a how-should-I-know look.

"Okay then, I watch your back and you watch my back. How does that sound?" I asked. I glanced in Pitch's direction and tensed up everything. I was waiting, waiting for one nightmare's nose to twitch, waiting for a shot of nightmare sand, waiting for a-

"Boo."

That works.

Sandy brought out a dreamsand whip and I whacked a few nightmares with my staff. Sandy grabbed my waist and we shot up into the air, propelled by the golden sand. I steadied myself on the flying dreamsand cloud and brought out my flute. I promised to watch Sandy's back, so that meant no close range. I blew a loud, high note. A large swirl of water came shooting out and hit many nightmares in a row. Another high note resulted in a powerful gale that blasted the nightmares apart. Sandy's dreamsand whips destroyed many of the nightmares, but we were heavily outnumbered.

Ringing sleigh bells brought my attention to below us. North, who still looked half asleep, was driving his sleigh with a passed out Bunny, Tooth, and Jack in the back. North crashed into a building and they all jolted awake.

"What's going on here!?" Bunny shouted as North swerved away from the building.

"A fight!" I shouted back as a nightmare came within two inches of my face. I slammed my flute into the nightmare and turned in the sleigh's direction. "And we really could use a hand!"

Tooth and Jack took to the skies and started to fight. Tooth used her body to slam through the nightmares, cutting them to shreds with her wings. Jack blasted many of the nightmares with ice and they dropped out of the sky. Bunny had thrown a few egg grenades, but used his boomerang to cause most of the damage. North was busy driving the sleigh, but he occasionally managed to cut a few nightmares with his swords.

Jack slammed his staff into some of the nightmares around Sandy and me. He continued fighting the onslaught of nightmares that were directed specifically at us. I blew a forceful gale at the nightmares and the sand swirled around. A well-placed raindrop turned them into streams of golden sand that became a part of the dreamsand cloud. Jack took a hit from a nightmare and was blown back in our direction. I grabbed his hand and flung him back at the nightmare. He slammed his staff into the nightmares and then sped away.

"I'm going to help Tooth and Bunny," Jack said as he flew off. I looked over to where Tooth and Bunny were fighting. A large concentration of nightmares was around them, almost as large as the one surrounding Sandy and I. Bunny was hopping from nightmare to nightmare to stay up and Tooth continued to ram through the nightmares, but they just kept coming. When Jack got in the mix, the nightmare count lessened, but the onslaught continued. I did a quick head count and something occurred to me.

Where was North?

I scanned the skies looking for North's sleigh. I spotted him flying solo a ways from everyone else. A few nightmares surrounded him, but nothing that he couldn't handle. I glanced up in Pitch's direction and instantly knew something was wrong. After all, the nightmare king doesn't smile often.

"Sandy! We've got to help North! This onslaught is just a diversion!" I shouted. Sandy nodded and we rocketed in North's direction. Jack seemed to have noticed or he heard what I had said because he flew in along with Tooth. Bunny hopped from a nightmare and landed on Sandy's dreamsand cloud. We raced forward as the nightmares closed in around North. Pitch brought up his hands and a withering black mass appeared. I gasped. A fearling. Fearlings hadn't been seen in years and they were deadly to humans and spirits alike. Pitch threw the fearling and the world seemed to move in slow motion. The fearling spun through the air, collecting nightmares as it went. It grew into an arrow of pure fear and before we knew what had happened, it struck North right in the chest. The world stopped for a fraction of a second.

"No!" I screamed. The sleigh threw North off and he was left suspended in the air. He looked terrified, like he was reliving the worst moment of his life over and over again. Pitch laughed manically.

"Sweet dreams, old man," Pitch said as a black cloud swirled around North as the fearling worked itself deeper into his body. He took one last look at us and gave a sad sort of smile. The sand covered him up and he was gone. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. North, Santa Clause, the leader of the Guardians, gone. Gone like Stella was.

"No," Jack whispered, his face full of shock. Sandy and Tooth looked horrified and Bunny was standing very still, as if he was trying to deny what had just happened. The wind swirled around me, sad and angry.

_North! _I heard Acionna wail. Yes, wail. Acionna is over a thousand years old; she's allowed to wail. I could feel the anguish and hate coming off her, and since we were connected, I felt the emotions being transferred to me.

_Misty, this is my fight, _Acionna said in colder tone than usual. A strange sensation came over my body as she merged her soul with mine. My senses became sharper and memories that were older than time itself flooded through my mind. I stood up, no longer feeling like Misty, but like Acionna, the water goddess.

I jumped up from Sandy's dreamcloud and charged straight for the Nightmare King. Pitch sent a wave of nightmare sand at me and I was knocked backwards. I felt the nightmares around me, their overwhelming fear trying to consume me, and I let the anger out.

A warm feeling started from my chest and spread down to the tips of my toes. The wind rose around me and moisture gathered in the wind. Clouds formed in the swirling mass with me at its center. The wind spun faster and faster until the whole mass was larger than the city below me. I screamed and the large gathering of water, clouds and wind rushed Pitch. This wasn't an ordinary storm. This was a storm that hadn't been seen in over millennia, and Pitch remembered it. Pitch's eyes widened as the mass overtook the nightmares and spun him out and away from us. Acionna pulled herself from my body and the winds died out. Next thing I knew, I was falling from the sky. I felt strong hands catch me and fly me down to Sandy's dreamcloud. I looked up and saw Jack holding me tightly. Tooth fluttered over to me in concern.

"Misty, how did you do that?" she asked me as Jack set me down on the cloud. I met eyes with Jack and I knew that he knew what had happened. Acionna hadn't possessed me exactly. Think of it as sort of a back up power that activates under stress.

"I don't know Tooth. I didn't know I could do that," I said. I looked to Sandy and Bunny. They both had downcast eyes and somber faces. I looked at Jack and he brought out a snow globe he had been saving.

"The North Pole," he whispered. Jack threw the snow globe and Sandy flew the dreamcloud through the portal. We appeared at the North Pole, and slowly flew down to the globe room. As we entered the globe room, the yetis cheered that we were back, but they then stopped. They looked around with confused expressions on their faces. We landed on the ground and a yeti came up to me.

"Arragra?" he asked. I didn't speak yeti, but I knew what he was saying. I sank to the ground in defeat. A few tears leaked out of my eyes and I wrapped my arms around myself. The inhabitants of the North Pole seemed to get the message because they all gasped, yeti and elf alike. I sat on the ground, a tear running down my cheek as I tried to accept the impossible. The tear dropped from my check and landed on the mural below me, obscuring the face of the greatest and kindest warrior who ever lived.

"North, I'm sorry," I whispered as the world fell silent.

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***looking outside bedroom window at angry mob demanding my head* Okay, who didn't swear the oath? I realize that that was a bad idea, but I have my reasons, sick and twisted as they are. Please no flames and I promise to update as soon as possible. *rock comes smashing through my window* Um...got to go!**


	7. Chapter 7: Saving Christmas (I guess)

**The begining and end of this chapter were hard to write. I'll leave you at that and with the fact that I do not own RoTG.**

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The normally busy shop was silent. The yetis circled the mural in front of the globe, standing vigil. The elves rang the bells on their heads and an eerie, sad song echoed through the workshop. The Guardians gathered in front of North's mural. It showed him wielding his swords, looking fierce and strong. A circle of candles illuminated the shop, giving off a soft glow. Tooth was holding Jack's hand, her amethyst eyes glistening with tears. Jack had a streak of tears running down his face, and he slipped his hand into Bunny's. Bunny's eyes were downcast and a tear slipped from his emerald eyes onto the floor. Sandy patted Bunny's shoulder, his face sad and understanding. The Guardians had lost more than a leader; they had lost a good friend.

I sat among the rafters watching. This was a private moment for the Guardians and they needed the time to be together, and Acionna seemed to understand that. She didn't talk to me, but I felt a slight breeze blow past me, confirming that she was sad as well. I swirled a cloud in my hand and an image of North appeared. The rafter moved slightly and I kept my eyes downcast.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked me. I glanced at him and saw that his hoodie was up, a sign that said he was sad.

"I just wish I could have done something," I mumbled. Jack walked over and sat down in front of me, him legs dangling off the rafters.

"Are you crazy? Look at what you just did to Pitch. You did what even I couldn't do," Jack said. I blew a piece of hair that had fluttered down over my face out of the way.

"Don't pretend you didn't do the same. I was watching from the ground when it happened," I said. Jack slightly blushed and then turned to me.

"Maybe I blasted Pitch with a concentrated shot of ice, but not even I could have called up a super-monsoon. North would have been proud," Jack said as he flipped his hoodie back. "Sandy told me about your memories. After we kick Pitch's butt, I'll help you look for your tooth box."

"My what?" I asked.

"Tooth box. It contains your baby teeth, and your childhood memories," Jack explained.

"So that's why the Mini Fairies collect the teeth," I commented. Jack gave me a smile.

"It doesn't really matter who you were. What matters is who you are now. I found that out when I looked at my memories," Jack said. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I still want to know," I said. Jack smiled and stood up. He hooked his staff around my waist and hauled me to my feet. I gave him a glare and then whacked him on the head. We flew down and landed in front of the globe. The lights were steadily flickering off. Tooth looked at the globe distressed.

"Look how fast they're going out," she said. Without North's wonder, children weren't amazed by the Guardians anymore. Already, Tooth's wings were starting to lose a few feathers. Bunny showed no physical signs of weakening, but the light in his eyes had faded. A cascade of sand fell from Sandy's dreamsand cloud, no longer golden. The frost on Jack's staff was melting and he looked tired. Even I felt strange, like someone had poked a hole in my heart and was slowly draining the energy from me. But I wasn't a Guardian, or at least not yet, so why-

A chime from the clock jolted all of us. Twelve chimes in a row. That meant it was Christmas Eve. We all glanced at each other.

"Now what do we do?" Bunny asked. "The only way we're gonna get those lights flickering is if we give them a Christmas they'll remember for years to come." I racked my brain for an answer. Bunny was right. We needed the kids to believe if we even stood a chance at beating Pitch, and our best bet was to make Christmas amazing. But how would we do that? North was the only one of us who had ever done Christmas and even though many movies had been made about someone trying to take over Christmas, it never actually happened (I think).

While I was thinking, Jack jumped up onto the globe control panel and faced us, a wide grin on his face.

"I'm no North, but he's been teaching me how to work the sleigh and stuff like that," Jack said. "All the toys are ready-" Jack stopped as Phil came up with a list of the toys that still needed last minute touches. "Okay then, almost all the toys are ready, but with a little help, we can do this."

"We hear ya loud and clear, mate. I'm only gonna say this once. This time, Christmas is more important than Easter," Bunny said, strength returning to his voice. I stifled a giggle. The arguments about holiday superiority between Bunny and North were legendary.

"These kids will have the best Christmas of their lives," Tooth said. Sandy held two thumbs up. Jack looked at me and I gave him a grin.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!" I said. I shot up and started flying around the workshop. The yetis were already behind schedule before Pitch showed up, and now they were scrambling to get done. Three whole crates full of cars needed painting, dolls were missing arms and legs, and the whole robot section was painted pink. Jack flew up next to me and looked the workshop over.

"We have one day to get this mess into toys for eight million kids, pack it all into one sleigh, and get this thing in the air before midnight," Jack said as we passed a bicycle that had three wheels. I grinned.

"This should be fun," I said as I rocketed past him, laughing. I landed on one floor and rapidly painted a line of cars red (What? Thought my paintbrush could only paint clouds?). Bunny hopped next to me and started to repaint the robots red. We went from floor to floor, painting just about anything that wasn't made of cloth. We put a fresh coat of paint on the fire trucks, repainted mountains of robots, and dunked wooden blocks in loud, bright colors.

We sat together on one floor, painting some yo-yos. I glanced in Bunny's direction and his eyes met mine. A rare smile was on his face, and I could feel the hope rising through my body, the hope that everything would be alright.

"Look, I'm sorry for calling you a Jackrabbit," I said, placing the finished yo-yo in the box. Bunny tossed his yo-yo into the box

"It's the ears, isn't it?" Bunny joked. I smiled and stood up, finally done with the yo-yos.

"Who painted the taxis green?" Jack shouted as he rapidly flew past Bunny and me. Bunny gave me a sheepish grin and started repainting the taxis. Jack was running relay between the floors, moving spare parts and finished toys about. He occasionally would yell something to the yetis, but he usually left each to their own.

I finished painting the last taxi yellow and flew off looking for something else to paint. A yeti shoved me out of the way and I found myself on the doll/dress up clothes floor. A strange sight greeted me there. Sandy was floating in mid air, sewing a doll's arm on. He looked up, gave me a wave and went back to sewing. I crept out of that room, hoping that no one shoved a dress in my face (I can't sew to save my life).

I flew onto the bicycle shop and started to brighten up the bikes with racing stripes. I caught a flash of green and I saw that Tooth had picked up a wrench and was fixing the three-wheeled bicycle. Some other Mini Fairies were doing the same thing to a few tricycles. Tooth stood up and looked the bicycle over. I stood there gaping.

"Hey Misty, what's-" Jack stopped as he saw the Mini Fairies teaming up to fix a bicycle. Bunny hopped in and I'm pretty sure his jaw hit the ground. Sandy flew in and dropped the doll he was sewing in surprise. Tooth looked up, a wrench still in her hand.

"What?" she asked. That seemed to bring us back to reality because everyone scattered. I shook the shock off as I tackled a mountain of toy trains.

Who knew Tooth knew mechanics?

Eventually, I ran out of things to paint, so I started moving the toys to the ground floor. The sleigh was being cleaned and the yetis were busy wrapping gifts and filling the sacks with the presents. Each sack corresponded with a different section of the globe and each present was carefully examined before it went into a sack. The yetis didn't seem to trust me with sorting gifts, so I helped box and wrap gifts. Paper and ribbons were flying everywhere and I made the mistake of letting scissors lie around unsupervised for five seconds. An elf managed to get a hold of them and then proceeded to cut the fur off of five yetis that were too busy to notice the missing fur on their backs/lower legs.

While the other yetis were giving their half-shaved companions a hard time, Jack landed next to me. He looked a little frazzled, which I thought was impossible for the winter spirit.

"There's no way we can finish the dolls in time. In order to finish, we need five thousand dolls done now. Now, I would never ask you to create five thousand dolls, but-"

"No. I'm sorry but no. Even if I could create five thousand dolls, which you know I can't, the answer would still be no," I said. Jack knew my limits and that trying to create too many things at once meant I would be in a coma for a week.

"Okay then, I'll just tell Sandy to sew faster," Jack said to me. I shook my head.

"I've got a better idea. I made a duplicator a few years ago and stored it in a tree by my pond. I'll just fly over and grab it," I said. Jack gave me a look that showed his concern. I rolled my eyes.

"You know it'll take an hour to recreate the duplicator. If I use a snow globe to get it, I'll be back in less than ten minutes. I'll take Little Sand with me and be back in a flash."

"If Pitch attacks, we need you here," Jack said. I grasped his hand and gave him a smile.

"Ten minutes. That's all I'll need," I said, taking flight. I found Little Sand next to Baby Tooth who was chattering in Mini Fairy speak. Little Sand saw me and flew onto my shoulder. Baby Tooth chirped at me and I waved.

"Mind if I borrow her for a second?" I asked. Baby Tooth shook her head and went back to building a unicycle. I flew into North's workshop and located two snow globes, one to get there, and one to get back. I shook a snow globe and Little Sand gripped my dress tightly.

"Burgess Pond!" I shouted. A portal appeared and Little Sand and I flew through the portal. Colors swirled around until we appeared over a pond just as the last bits of twilight were fading. Now, I know you're thinking of Jack's Pond, but mine is a little different. It has a river at two ends and the pond is in the center. The local legend is that a meteor struck the middle of the river and created a crater. That crater eventually became a pond and the meteor somehow vanished. I'm not sure I believe it, but all myths have a grain of truth in them, so I don't challenge it.

I weaved around the trees, looking for the one that housed my duplicator. Remember how I was able to store the glass phial on my dress? This was a similar process, so I was looking for a tree with a white machine drawing on it…in the middle of winter.

"Acionna, tell Old Man Winter it may take a little longer than ten minutes," I muttered as I checked the trees.

_No problem Misty, _Acionna replied. I dusted the snow off the trees, but none of them yielded what I was looking for. A tug on my dress brought my attention to Little Sand. She pointed to a tree that had little snow on it, but a big white patch in the middle. I flew up and found the white patch was shaped more like a machine than anything else.

"Thanks Little Sand," I said. Little Sand's cheeks turned slightly red and I smiled…and then did a double take. Since when do dream helpers turn colors other than tan and gold? I decided that it didn't matter at the moment and peeled the duplicator off the tree, shrinking it down to a size that could fit on my dress.

"Okay Little Sand, let's head back," I said. Little Sand nodded and I took out the snow globe.

_Misty…_I looked up confused. The voice sounded like a little girl's voice, one that I knew from somewhere. "I know that voice," I said as I flew in the direction of the sound. Little Sand tugged on my dress and I brushed her away.

"It's okay. I said I'd be a little late." _Misty…_the voice was stronger as I flew away from my pond. _Misty? _the voice asked, almost confused. I flew after the voice and found myself in a clearing. In the center was an old bed that was broken beyond repair, and a large hole beneath it. I pushed the bed out of the way and looked down into the hole. It seemed to go down for miles, and a strange foreboding seemed to leak out of the hole that was blacker than night. Little Sand shook her head, but the urge to find the origin of voice was too strong to resist. I took a deep breath and jumped into the hole, Little Sand flying right behind me.

Remember how I said chasing the nightmares with Sandy was my worst idea ever? Well…I wasn't exactly telling the truth. Jumping through that hole was worse by a long shot, and you don't have to be Einstein to figure that much out.

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**The next chapter will most likely have another oath for you to swear (do I even have to exlplain why?). Stay tuned for the next chapter...and is it too much to ask for a review? I like hearing people's ideas, and while stories are pretty much author based, I really do want a little feedback (I hope I don't sound too whiny). **


	8. Chapter 8: Betrayal

**I'm not going to put the do not kill oath because I feel horrible for writing this. This will be the shortest because I couldn't bear to add more detail. BTW, I changed the date to Christmas Eve. Just remember, you promised to wait till the end of this fanfic to kill me. I don't own RoTG.**

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I landed on what felt like stone, but because it was dark, I really couldn't see anything. The air around me was old and stale, like no one had been here in a long time. A small amount of light was coming from a tunnel in front of me, and I walked towards the light source. The entire time, Little Sand was tugging on whatever she could conveniently grab, whether it be skin, dress, or hair.

"Little Sand, calm down. All we have to do is find that voice, and we'll be off," I said, trying to keep her from yanking out a fistful, albeit a small one, of my hair. I walked out of the tunnel and Little Sand instantly quieted. I went silent too, because what I saw made my mouth drop.

We were in some sort of underground lair, but there were small shafts of light that cast shadows around the gray stone pillars. Cages made out of black metal hung from the ceiling and slowly swayed, as if pushed by the wind, but the air was as still as death. A golden flash came from one of the cages and I gasped. The dream helpers were all here. I flew up to one of the cages and the dream helpers crowded next to the door. The bars of the cage weren't too far apart and I thought the littler dream helpers could easily get out.

"Come one, you can slip out," I whispered to a few floating sand mice. The little sand mice shook their heads. One touched the cage bars and was instantly repelled, as if it hurt to touch it. I felt the cage doors and they didn't feel like normal metal. It was heavy, and it felt old, no, ancient. The dream helpers couldn't touch it, and the cages seemed to be avoiding the touch of sunlight.

"Lead from the earth's core," I mumbled. Lead from the earth's core was the only lead that was naturally black. The lead had never been touched by sunlight, so it absorbed any light that came in contact with it. The effects on the dream helpers were apparent. Their glow had greatly diminished and their bodies were turning tan. They looked at me expectantly and I patted one of the little mice on the head.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered to dream helpers. "I'll get you out in-"

_Misty…_There it was, the voice. I turned around, expecting someone to be behind me. All I saw was the other cages and strange staircases. _Misty…_The voice seemed to echo off the walls, distorting it. I spotted something moving in the shadows. It looked like the silhouette of a young girl. She let out a giggle and ran away.

"-a second. Wait up!" I shouted to the little girl. I flew after her and found myself on top of a bridge. The little girl was nowhere to be found. The cages creaked and threw around shadows, and I felt like I was being watched.

"Hello? Little girl?" I called. My footsteps echoed off the stone floors as I approached a large globe. It had lights just like the globe at the North Pole, but the globe here was made out of a black wires and black stone. I watched as the lights went out faster and faster as the shadows around me leapt onto the globe. My heart leaped into my throat and I stepped back. I was in Pitch's lair.

"Looking for someone?" a voice asked as a shadow passed over me. I transformed my flute into a staff and I shot a jet of water at it. Pitch materialized on a bridge above me and I flew up.

"Where is the little girl?" I demanded.

"What little girl?" Pitch asked in fake innocence. "Oh, you mean her." A little girl made of nightmare sand floated out of the shadows and giggled. She turned into a nightmare and galloped off. I mentally cursed. Nothing more than a trick. I pointed my staff at Pitch, ready for anything.

"Don't be frightened, Misty. I'm not going to hurt you," he said, walking away from me.

"Frightened? You don't scare me," I said, walking after him.

"Maybe I don't, but something does scare you," Pitch said, turning his head in my direction.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I always know. Everyone has a secret fear, one that we never like to show. Yours is that you'll always be alone." My eyes widened and I stepped back. The floor became a wall and I fell, landing on my side. Pitch let out a chuckle and I stood up, confused. A shadow passed on my left and I whipped around. Nothing was there.

"And worst of all, you're afraid that you'll never know why you're all alone. Why? Why did the Man in the Moon place you here, with no one ever able to see you?" Pitch taunted. I stopped as a large shadow appeared in front of me. Pitch stepped out, no more than three feet away from me.

"Well, fear not, for the answer is right here." I looked in Pitch's hand and saw a golden box with colored diamonds on it. The face of a young girl with long brown hair and brown eyes was drawn on the front. Etched in small letters below it was Misty Fog. I slowly backed away. I didn't need to ask what it was.

"W-Where did you get that?" I stuttered. Pitch laughed and disappeared.

"I though you would have been happy to find your memory box," Pitch said as his shadow passed over a pillar. I turned around, but he kept moving. The shadows around me felt oppressive and I felt like I was being closed in.

"Everything you've always wanted to know, in this little box. All the answers to your questions, but you're afraid. You're afraid that the Guardians will push you away, just like everyone else," Pitch said. I stepped backwards and found myself in a corner. Multiple shadows surrounded me and I tried to block out their whisperings.

"Let me ease your mind on one thing, the Guardians will never trust you. Not really." I covered my ears and ran right through the shadows, not caring what happened to me. All I wanted was to escape the blatant truth that Pitch was spelling out and the whispering shadows.

"Stop it!" I pleaded. I kept running until I found myself back on the bridge. Pitch stepped out of the shadows and I backed away from him, not afraid of him, but of what he was going to say.

"After all, who would want to trust a person who could go bad at any moment?" Pitch asked. Anger rose through me and I pointed my staff at Pitch.

"You don't know who I am," I stated.

"Of course I do, you're Misty Fog. You always find yourself in the worst of situations. Why, you're in one now." Pitch chuckled again and tossed me something. I caught the object and found it to be my tooth box. I looked at Pitch and he was smiling. A sickening feeling rose through my throat and I could feel my face turning pale.

"What did you do?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"Better question, Misty, what did you do?" Pitch stepped back into the shadows and let out a haunting laugh. I ran after him, but a shadow swallowed me up. It spit me out and I found myself in a dark room full of boxes. I turned around, realizing I had forgotten something.

"Little Sand!" I shouted. The wall behind me was solid. I pounded on the wooden wall in frustration. The shadows swirled around me and an echoy voice could be heard.

"Merry Christmas Misty." The shadows dispersed and I was left alone. I walked past the boxes and looked into one. It was full of destroyed dolls. My heart sank.

"No," I whispered. Every box around me contained broken toys. I shivered. The air around me was frigid. A small window on the wall looked out to a frozen tundra and I instantly knew where I was. I flew over to the door and turned the handle. A horrible sight awaited me. The workshop was totaled. Broken trucks and cars strewed the floor and it looked like an entire floor had collapsed. I slowly walked among the carnage, moving stray bits of floorboard. I heard some faint voices talking and I listened in.

"Bunny, some fairies just came from the palace. They said a shadowy girl came by and stole a tooth box. What do we do?" Tooth said.

"I don't know Shelia. I really don't know," Bunny replied. I waved away the dust and my foot bumped into something. A small nesting doll was on the floor and a picture of Jack was painted on it. I picked it up and sighed. Figuring this day couldn't get any worse, I turned my head skyward and yelled, "Hello? Anyone here?"

"Misty? Is that you?" Jack replied. I pushed a fallen piece of wood out of the way and walked in the direction of Jack's voice.

"Jack? What happened?" I called back. A bang resounded through the workshop and a cloud of dust shot up. I waved away the dust and Jack continued.

"The nightmares came while you were gone. They destroyed everything: the toys, the bikes, even an entire floor. Nothing survived." I removed a piece of wood in front of me and stepped out into what was probably the clearest space on the floor. There, Jack, Sandy, Tooth, and Bunny stood, covered in dust. Jack looked tired and the cascade of regular sand off of Sandy had only increased while I was gone. Bunny's shoulders had slumped and Tooth could barely keep herself up.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked. Everyone looked up with relieved expressions on their faces, but their relief turned to shock when they saw me. I looked at them, confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Tooth's hands flew to her mouth and Bunny turned away from me.

"Look in the mirror," Bunny said, his voice low. I swallowed and flew over to a wall-mounted mirror. What I saw made me gasp because I didn't look like me. The first thing I noticed is that my eyes were black, not dark brown. My hair was no longer short and indigo, but long and black. In the confusion, I didn't realize that my blue dress had turned into a long, skinny, black gown that swept the floor. The worst thing of all, however, was my amulet. The silver was tarnished and the raindrop was black. I looked like a Nightmare Princess. Something must have happened when I ran through the shadows.

"Misty…what have you done?" Tooth gasped. She must have noticed the tooth box in my hand. I remembered what she had said about the tooth palace robbery. She must have thought the shadowy girl was me. Sandy formed a sand fairy, and then a question mark. I turned to the Guardians, distraught. Sandy's image fell and I knew he got the message.

"I didn't mean for this to happen. I was just trying to help," I said. Bunny turned away when I tried to meet his gaze. Tooth did the same. They left the room in silence. Sandy floated off in distress over Little Sand and that left Jack and me alone. I turned away. I didn't want to meet his gaze.

"Misty," Jack said, his voice forlorn, "Tell me it isn't true."

"I know you don't want to believe it, but look inside yourself. What do you think?" I asked. I heard his intake of breath and I sighed. His mind was made up. "It's like I said. I shouldn't be a Guardian," I said. I threw Jack the nesting doll and flew up and out of the workshop. I didn't look back.

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**I can't believe I just did that. I can't believe I just did that. ****I can't believe I just did that. ****I can't believe I just did that.**

******I think we can all agree I'm insane.**

******Please review because I feel really guilty for writing this.**


	9. Chapter 9: Confrontations

**Okay, not my favorite chapter, but an important one nonetheless. Shout out to Shadow-Strike Raven, thanks and I hope you like this chapter! I don't own RoTG and enjoy.**

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The wind tore at my face as I shot away from the workshop. I didn't care what happened to the Guardians at this point, I didn't care who won the war, and I certainly didn't care what happened to me. I just needed to get away. The strange feeling in my heart had only increased and my desire to fly away as fast as possible kicked in when the Guardians rejected me.

The oceans sped under me as fled and a certain island came into view. Ireland. The one place a spirit, whether good or bad, is always welcome. I landed on a cliff next to a lake shrouded in mist. For once, I was too angry to try and clear it away. I looked down at the tooth box in my hands. Who would have though the wish to get my memories back would cause so much trouble? I placed my tooth box onto my dress and a dull gray tooth box appeared. Not even my storage items gave me a ray of hope.

"I thought this might happen." I didn't turn around. That voice had caused me enough trouble, but for once, it wasn't threatening. He almost sounded caring, if that's even possible. "They never really trusted you. I just wanted to show you that. But I understand." That was it. I whirled around, sending a gust of wind in the direction of Pitch. A blockage of nightmare sand appeared.

"You don't understand anything! I had a life, friends, and you took that away from me! You turned me into a monster!" I shouted as I shot a jet of water at Pitch. He blocked it and swung some nightmare sand in my direction.

"You don't think I've felt that way as well? People casting you out like you're a disease?" Pitch shouted back. I jumped up and sent a combination attack of water, clouds, and wind. Pitch's nightmare sand met my attack and an explosion erupted. A thick fog surrounded us and I cautiously landed, slowly letting the fog die out. I looked back at Pitch, ready for anything

"No one trusting you? Never having anyone to talk to? Longing for someone to understand?" I stayed silent. He had just voiced what I had been feeling for the past twenty-five years. For once, Pitch and I had something in common. I looked up and locked eyes with him.

"All of those years in the shadows, I thought that there was no one who knows what this feels like. Now I see I was wrong," Pitch said. I gripped my flute tightly. Was Pitch the only person who accepted me for who I was? The only person who really understood?

"We don't have to be alone Misty. I believe in you, and so will the children. But more importantly, I trust you," Pitch said. This wasn't a trick. I could feel it. He was giving me the chance to be believed in. To be seen. To no longer be alone.

"You really think kids will believe in me?" I asked.

"Yes! Look at what you can do," Pitch said, motioning to a sculpture made of clouds and water that was most likely created when I attacked Pitch. I walked over to the sculpture and placed my hand on it. Did I really do this? I didn't realize I could.

"How many spirits could do that? And the little storm you created was quite impressive," Pitch told me. I didn't respond, but I knew a lot of spirits could control clouds and wind just fine. As for the storm, I could think of a handful of spirits who could create a super-monsoon, certainly Mother Nature.

"And how many spirits could bring to life anything they chose?" Pitch asked. I considered that question as well. I probably was the only spirit who could bring images to life, but there were others who could create stuff as well. North for one, and so could Ombric. However, I hadn't seen another spirit with the combination of powers I had, so I suppose I was a little out of the norm.

"Misty, you are powerful, and most certainly not a monster. We can make the children believe, in the both of us," Pitch continued. It sounded like a good deal, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to take up the offer. A stabbing pain in my chest brought my hand to my heart. I turned away from Pitch, trying to stop myself from falling over. The strange feeling in my chest had increased and I felt lightheaded. Pitch seemed to notice because what he said next almost made me fall on the ground in shock.

"And, you wouldn't have to worry about the children's belief anymore." My eyes widened. How did he know? Not even Jack knew, and we had been friends ever since we were born. I had tried to hide it as best as I could, but in my heart I knew somehow, people would find out. I was connected to the children, but not like the Guardians. I was only affected if children stopped believing. My energy waned and I slowly would fade away. I got no extra benefits if kids believed. When Pitch tried to defeat the Guardians nine months ago, I had almost completely faded when something happened that returned my energy in a heartbeat. And now Pitch was offering to get rid of that? It seemed too good to be true. I could have all my power back, have kids believe in me, and never have to worry about fading ever again.

"What is your answer?" Pitch asked. He offered his hand out and I wanted to grab it, to agree to become a Nightmare Princess, to finally not be alone.

But something stopped me.

A little voice inside my head kept me from reaching out. Maybe it was Acionna, maybe it wasn't, but whoever it was stopped me. _Is this what you really want_? the voice asked me. At first, my answer was yes. I wanted to be seen, I didn't want to be alone, and I didn't want to fade away just because the kids deemed it so. But then I looked inside myself, really looked, and I realized, that's not what I wanted. I didn't always like painting clouds and giving kids new, fun ideas. Morality has always been a bit of a struggle for me. For a period of time, my only focus was to get someone to see me. I tried everything, and I mean everything. Thick fog that people could easily get lost in, torrential rainstorms that sent mass flooding, even a couple of tornadoes in the hope that someone would at least notice me. But it never worked. All I got from those incidents were lots of people crying, lots of people hurt, and me feeling guilty. I had tried fear on once, and I didn't like it.

The little voice inside my head also asked me if Pitch was right. _Is_ _he the only person who understands?_ The truth is, he wasn't. How many other spirits had gone through the same things I had? No one seeing you, always being alone, that was the life story of countless spirits, not just me. And there were people who understood. Lily and Auty understood me. Sandy understood me. Jack understood me. Acionna certainly understood me (after all, she's me), and none of them ever judged me because of who I was. And in truth, I was never really alone. Acionna was always with me. How could I forget that?

And finally, my little voice asked, _Can you really trust Pitch?_ That was the easiest one to answer. Of course not! Pitch was responsible for turning me into what I was. He destroyed Sandy, turned North into a fearling, hurt Jack, and killed Stella. Why had I ever believed that Pitch was trying to help me? I couldn't accept. Kids wouldn't believe in us. They would fear us, and I couldn't do fear again.

And if it meant that I would continue to fade away? So be it. I turned around and faced Pitch.

"My answer is no," I stated. Pitch's smile turned into a frown in a manner of milliseconds. "I want to be believed in, not feared, and that's what you are offering me. Now if you don't mind too much, please leave." I spun around and started walking away. I could almost feel the hatred cascading off of Pitch.

"You want me to leave. Done. But first…" I heard a laugh that reminded me of a cackling shadow. I looked back at Pitch and saw a horrific sight. Little Sand was in a lead cage and a fearling circled the cage. Little Sand looked terrified and I pointed my staff at Pitch. The wind whipped around me in fury.

"The staff, Misty!" Pitch shouted over the wind. I let the wind settle and we stared at each other. "Now, hand over the staff, and I'll let the little fairy go." Little sand furiously shook her head back and forth, but the fearling only crept closer to her. I clenched my teeth. I had messed up once with Little Sand, and I was determined that it would never happen again. Against Little Sand's wishes, I handed Pitch my staff. The blue stone in the center stopped glowing. Pitch causally flipped my staff around.

"Okay then, let her go," I said, reaching out to the cage. Pitch considered this for a moment and then gave me a sneer.

"No," he said. I mentally cursed again. Another simple trick. "I think this fairy will make a fine nightmare, don't you?" The fearling passed through the bars of the cage and swallowed Little Sand. I couldn't help but scream. Pitch laughed and my rage swelled. I didn't have my staff, but I was too angry to care. I rushed Pitch and grabbed Little Sand's cage right out of his hands. Pitch looked shocked, but he collapsed my staff into my paintbrush. He then took it and snapped it in half.

If I had thought the energy draining hurt, this felt a thousand times worse. I felt like someone had snapped my soul in half. Everything hurt for a spilt second, and then it was replaced by a dull throbbing in my head. I couldn't do much except groan. Pitch used that moment of weakness to push me off the cliff. I fell down the side of the cliff, my body going limp. I landed on a ledge maybe halfway down, every bone in my body screaming in agony. Through teary eyes, I saw two small wooden splinters fall. They landed next to me and I looked at them. My paintbrush was splintered in half.

Somehow, I'd managed to hang onto Little Sand's cage. I opened the cage, not expecting Little Sand to still be there. To my astonishment, I saw Little Sand on the floor of the cage, but she looked weak and sickly. I picked her up and started stroking her head.

"Oh Little Sand, I'm sorry," I said to the little dream helper. I moved out of the wind and placed Little Sand on my lap. The wind howled around us as I sat there, unable to do anything. My powers were gone. I couldn't even summon a little bit of wind.

"Pitch was right. I get myself in the worst of situations," I mumbled to myself. I looked at Little Sand and I noticed that her hand rested on the gray drawing of my tooth box. I brought it out and sighed.

"I guess I can look at my memories now. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," I said to myself. The girl painted on the tooth box smiled back at me. I regarded the picture curiously. Could that really have been me? If that little girl was me, she was long gone. I looked the tooth box over, looking for an opening of sorts. Nothing. As I stared at the box in confusion, my eyes traveled to the large blue diamond on the top. I placed my hand on the diamond and the whole tooth box started to glow. My vision, starting from the center out, turned from normal, to flipping diamonds. I watched as the landscape turned from a rocky cliff to a wooded glen. A small house rested not far from two very familiar ponds and I gasped.

I was in my memories.

**The next chapter will mostly be Misty's memories and I think you may be surprised (if only a little bit). Please review and see you soon!**


	10. Chapter 10: Who I Am

**I'm pretty sure I was possessed while I was typing this, because this takes the cake as fastest update yet. Maybe it's because I find flashback chapters the easiest to write. I'm sure you're anxious to read, so I don't own RoTG and enjoy (and about the surprise, if you can't guess it, I pity you).**

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_I peeked my head inside my father's shop. He was the local blacksmith and he was constantly busy. I saw him pounding away on a horseshoe. My father rubbed his head and looked in my direction. He smiled and I ran in. He ruffled my long brown hair and I held some objects in my hand out to him. They consisted of a short, thick stick and some horsehair._

"_Mother wanted me to give you this," I told him. My father laughed._

"_Your mother finally caught you?" My father asked. I sheepishly nodded. My mother had been working for years, trying to teach me to sew. It never worked because I always managed to slip away before my lesson could begin. I usually ran into the forest a ways and drew pictures instead. This time, however, my mother had caught me. Instead of punishing me, she gave me these items and sent me to my father._

"_Now, let's see what we can do with these," my father said, picking up the objects. He then took a small piece of metal and wrapped it around the horsehair. He clamped the metal down and fastened it onto the stick. My father gave it back to me and I looked at the new object._

"_What is it?" I asked. My father smiled._

"_A paintbrush. You can use it to draw permanent things as long as you have paint," he said. I twirled the paintbrush in my hand, thinking about how I could get paint. We didn't have enough money for those kinds of things, but maybe I could use some berry juice instead. _

"_Thank you Father," I said I ran out the door. My father chuckled as I sped away._

* * *

_Our family sat around the fireplace, the skies darkening outside. It was early March, but it was still frigid. I was sitting on the floor, humming a tune that I had come up with earlier. My father was shaping some metal with his hands. My mother was sewing (she had long since given up on trying to teach me). Not too long ago, she had given birth to two twin girls. They were currently asleep._

_I felt a flick on my shoulder and turned to my brother who was sitting next to me. He looked a lot like me, brown hair, brown eyes, and he always had a mischievous look on his face. Everyone always said that he dragged me into trouble, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. We got into trouble together. I playfully nudged him and went back to humming._

_My brother handed me a long, silver tube in my hands with a ribbon on it. Little holes were spaced out along it and it looked a little bit like a tin whistle that I had seen in stores, but the hole that you blew into was on the side._

"_A flute?" I asked. I didn't think my brother had any money. My brother smiled._

"_Happy Birthday!" he said. I looked at him, confused._

"_But our birthday isn't for another week," I said. My twin brother laughed._

"_I wanted to surprise you. Father helped me make it for you," he said with a smile. "Now you can play those tunes you always hum. It'll be slightly less annoying."_

_I simply smiled at my brother's joke. No need to ruin a new gift._

* * *

_My brother threw a snowball in my direction. I quickly dodged it and threw a counter one at him. He somehow managed to catch it and throw it back at me. It made contact with my side and I collapsed on the ground, laughing. I may have been fourteen, but you're never too old for a snowball fight. At least that's what my brother said._

_I picked myself up and ran over to Emily and Pippa, my younger sisters. They currently were trying to make a snowman, but at the age of six, it wasn't really working. I took a look at the deformed mass of snow. It resembled a snowman in only the vaguest of ways._

"_Need some help?" I asked. Emily nodded her head and Pippa shook her head. I sighed. Those two never agreed on anything._

"_Tell you what, why don't we make something else?" I asked._

"_Like what?" Emily asked. I thought about the question and I turned my eyes to the sky. A large, fluffy rabbit made out of clouds floated past and I instantly had my inspiration._

"_How about a snow bunny?" I asked. Using the pile of snow, we gave the mass ears, arms, legs, and a little tail. Emily and Pippa looked at their creation in pride. My brother walked over and leaned into my ear._

"_It reminds me of those kangaroos we learned in school," he whispered._

"_Nah, I think it looks more like a jackrabbit."_

* * *

_I walked around the woods. Once again, it was a week from our birthday, only seven years later. I was sixteen years old. I was looking for a present for my brother. He had told me he didn't want any clothes or a new pair of shoes (my brother had a thing against shoes). He said he wanted a good, strong staff of wood. When he had told me he wanted a walking stick, I looked at him like he was crazy. A staff? He then told me that he was busy helping Father (he had decided he wanted to learn our father's trade), but he wanted something for when he went out in the woods. I still thought he was nuts, but a present is a present._

_I looked among all of the fallen branches, but nothing looked right. Some were too short, others were too thick, and a good number of them were altogether not right. As I walked, I came upon a fallen tree limb. The snow crunched around my feet as I walked over to the limb. It was a beautiful shade of brown and it was curved at the top, just wide enough to hook someone out of the way. I instantly knew it was the right one for my brother. I dusted off the snow and walked back out of the forest. When I exited the forest, I found my brother standing there, holding something. It looked like a long, silver stick made of metal. In the very center was a blue stone that my younger sisters Emily and Pippa had found last week. I walked over to him and handed him his staff and he handed mine to me. _

"_It looks like we have a habit of giving each other presents early," he said to me. I smiled._

"_It certainly does," I replied._

* * *

_ "Father! Emily and I are heading into town!" I shouted as Emily and I headed out the door. I was carrying all of the things that were important to me; my paintbrush and flute in my pocket, and my newly acquired staff in my hand. My father stuck his head out of his workshop and gave us a wave._

"_Be careful! The recent snowmelt around town has spurned a few flash floods. I don't want you getting stuck in one!" he shouted back. Emily and I walked down the path, the slowly melting snow crunching around our feet. _

"_Isn't Pippa going skating today?" I asked Emily. She nodded her head._

"_Yep. Otherwise she would be going too. I hope the ice isn't too thin," Emily said looking worried._

"_I hope so too, Emily."_

* * *

_Emily clung onto me as the cascade of water surrounded us. The little hill we had been standing on seconds ago was now an island in the middle of rapids. The water had rose without warning and we were luck to have stopped on the hill. Otherwise, we would've been swept away. I looked down at my sister and tried to comfort her._

"_It's okay Emily. We're going to be okay," I reassured her. "Don't look at the water, just focus on me." Emily nodded her head. I looked down at the water. It was rising fast. We needed to get out of here, now. "I know you're scared, but you need to trust me. We're going to get out here, I promise._

"_How Misty? Neither of us can swim! We're stuck!" Emily screamed as the water rose to her ankles. I hugged her tighter and swallowed the dread rising into my throat. I needed to be calm, if not for my own sake, but for Emily's._

"_It's okay. We're not stuck. We just have to use our imagination," I said as I spied a log floating close to where we were standing. I used my staff to bring it closer and Emily scrambled onto the floating log. I sat down on the log and used my staff to steer us over to some tall trees. Emily had her arms wrapped around me the entire time as I fought the fast moving current. Finally, we made to the tree line. The lowest branches were far above me, so I handed my staff to Emily. I slowly stood up and found I could just reach the branches. I picked up Emily and she pulled herself onto the tree limb. She handed my staff back to me and smiled. _

"_Come on Misty!" she shouted._

"_I'll be up in a second, but first go higher, Emily. These waters are rising fast," I shouted. Emily started to climb up the tree when a rush of water came towards me. I jumped up off the log and tried to grab the tree branch, but my fingers slipped. _

"_Misty!" Emily shouted, reaching out her hand in my direction. The last thing I saw was Emily's face full off shock and terror before the waters overtook me._

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I came back to reality, gasping. I had a house, a family, a twin brother, and two younger sisters! I saved Emily! I felt ecstatic knowing that I was someone, and not just a spirit. I wanted to hug someone, and my eyes traveled upward to a faint sky. A sliver of the moon appeared. I could've sworn I saw MiM wink. That settled it. I was a Guardian. Any doubt that I had felt was completely gone.

Which made it even more important to get off that stinking ledge.

I looked down to the splinters of my paintbrush. It was more to me than just a paintbrush, and my flute and staff meant more to me now too. It represented my family. I picked up the two halves and sat on my knees, Little Sand passed out on my lap. Taking in a deep breath, I jammed the two paintbrush halves together, thinking about my mother, my father, my sisters, my brother, the Guardians, Little Sand, and all the children of the world. A bright blue flash appeared where the two halves met and I felt my power returning. I felt stronger, more powerful, more like a Guardian. The flash went away and my paintbrush was repaired. Not even a crack remained.

A piece of hair fluttered past my face and I laughed in delight. My hair was back to indigo. My dress was back to my knees and it was blue. If I could see my eyes, they would probably be brown. I glanced at my amulet, the silver now gleaming and the raindrop blue once more. I smiled as I remembered why my clothes changed. My clothes changed not because of the shadows; they changed because the splinter in my heart took over, and now, I was back to normal.

But that wasn't the biggest surprise.

Standing on my shoulder was Little Sand, no longer passed out. She looked strong and healthy, but her appearance was different. Her hair and eyes were still golden, but that's about it. Her dress was blue and white and flowed down to her ankles. Her wings were white and shimmery, and her skin was tan. She smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Looks like you're no longer just a dream helper," I said. Little Sand nodded her head.

"Nope," she replied. I blinked back my surprise. I knew Little Sand could speak, but just like Sandy, she never really liked speaking. "Being around you made me stronger, and that's why I'm still here. When the fearling attacked me, it poured into my soul, thinking it could win. The strength from you gave me the energy to fight back, and when that burst of energy came from you, I won. Although, it seemed to have a few side effects." Little Sand tugged at her new dress. I laughed and stood up, storing my tooth box on my dress. Only one way to test if I was back to normal. I jumped up and I shot up into the sky. I heard someone laughing and the winds swirled around me.

_I leave you alone for five minutes and this happens! _Acionna said to me. I rolled my eyes.

"Glad to hear from you too," I replied. I flew as fast as possible, trying to find a way into Pitch's lair. I promised the dream helpers I would free them, and free them I would.

"Acionna, where's the nearest entrance to Pitch's lair?" I shouted as we rocketed towards America.

_New York City sewers! _she shouted back. I flew down to the streets and found and open manhole cover. I traveled down the chute and found myself in Pitch's lair again. I flew to the nearest cage and smashed the lock open.

"Come on, let's go!" I said to the dream helpers. None of them even stirred. Every one of them was completely tan.

"They can't move," I whispered. Little Sand looked at the dream helpers and I could tell she felt guilty. After all, she could fly and they couldn't. She tugged my shoulder and I looked at the globe. The lights were blinking out.

"The lights…" I said, flying down to the globe. The lights were down to only a few. Seven in fact, all of them in Burgess, Pennsylvania. Six were slightly dull.

The weird feeling came back to my chest, and realization hit me. If I wanted to stop fading, I needed to find a child who had more than just belief. I needed a child who had the spark of creativity to make them believe in more than just the Guardians. And only one light was left that had that extra-bright spark.

Caroline Bennett.

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***me whistling* I'm giving out a prize to the first person who reviews and answers this next question. The prize will be a PM so if you're a guest, don't bother answering the question.**

**Who is Misty's twin?**

***looking outside at shocked angry mob* Oh come on! I've only made ten billion references in this chapter alone! Please review (even if it is only answering the question) and stay tuned.**


	11. Chapter 11: The Powers of Belief

**Wow, I should do prizes more often if it'll get you to review. This is my attempt at fluff, so it may or may not work. As for the answer to the question, nope, not telling. You'll just have to wait and see, but it should be obvious. I don't own RoTG and enjoy.**

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My mind made up, I flew around the room looking for a way out. Pitch's lair was a maze of tunnels, but I was looking for one specific exit. Spotting the under-the-bed tunnel, I rapidly flew down into it. I paused for only a few seconds when Little Sand's glow revealed two swords on the ground. They were sabers, but they weren't like North's. They had curved blades and golden handles. I picked them up and stored them on my dress. You never know when you may need a miscellaneous weapon or two.

That done, I shot up out of the lair and raced faster than I thought possible towards Burgess. Not even when Jack had challenged me to a race around the world did I fly that fast (as much as I hate to admit it, he won). The houses sped underneath me until Caroline's house came into view. I cautiously pushed the already ajar window open. Caroline was sitting on her bed, facing a stuffed animal reindeer. She was wearing pink pajamas, long sleeves, and long pants. She looked sad, but desperate.

"Look, I think we're at what some people would call a crossroads. If last night wasn't a dream, and you are real, you have to prove it now." The reindeer stayed silent, like I knew it would. Caroline was losing her belief fast. What had happened?

"I heard that Santa always comes between eleven and midnight, and when I checked under the tree, there wasn't anything. At first, I thought he was late, but now, I'm not so sure. I've believed for a long time, and now you kinda owe me one. So, please just give me a little sign that you're real. Please…" Caroline picked up the reindeer, sounding like she was pleading with herself. I flew into the room as the light from Caroline's eyes fell.

"I knew it…" she said. The little reindeer fell off her bed onto the floor. Now the lights were down to six, but I wasn't about to give up. Could she really not believe, or was it not too late? Taking my flute, I blew a note that shrouded the room in a light fog, no, a mist. Caroline looked up, a mask of wonder and confusion on her face. Taking my paintbrush, I started to paint. An image of North appeared. It showed him big and strong, but with a youthful glint in his eye. A bag of presents was next to his feet. Caroline's eyes widened.

"He's real…" Caroline whispered. I smiled, but I didn't stop there. I continued to draw pictures. Next, I drew Bunny. Little painted eggs were in a basket with some chocolate in it, and Bunny's boomerangs were drawn. He looked like the cool and calm Australian ranger that we all knew and loved, but he was smiling. A rare occurrence, but one that conveyed a sense of hope.

Then, I drew Tooth. Her iridescent wings were nothing but a blur, but I showed her in all her splendor. Beautiful blue and green feathers, the skirt of blue and purple, and her feathered crown. I threw in some Mini Fairies, just for good measure. Each one was carrying a small tooth.

Sandy was after that. The sculpted sand on his body reminded me of the beach and he looked just like how I though the sandman should, wise, powerful, but kind. Swirls of dreamsand surrounded him and the golden dreamsand sparkled in the moonlight. It was a challenge to get the dreamsand to glow, but it was well worth it.

Finally, I drew Jack. Blue hoodie, brown pants, brown staff, white hair, and bright blue eyes, he should have been the easiest to draw. But for me, he wasn't. I put every little detail into his picture, from the frost that lined his hoodie, to the ice that coated his staff. The wisps of hair that always stuck out, and the mischievous smile that could always be found. I painted the last stroke and stepped back. He honestly looked real. They all did.

While I was painting, Caroline's eyes kept widening. She stared at the pictures mesmerized. Just to show off a little bit, I made the drawings come to life. North started tinkering with a bit of ice, Bunny hopped around Caroline's room, Tooth jabbered to her fairies, Sandy sent out streams of dreamsand, and Jack threw a snowball at Bunny. Bunny brushed Caroline's nose and she laughed. I made the images give Caroline a wave and then they swirled around, turning back to mist. Caroline waved back and I smiled.

I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I draw myself? I could've, but it's sort of a spirit taboo to reveal yourself like that. Belief is a touchy subject around spirits, but we all agree on one thing, plastering your name or image everywhere is a bad idea. Besides, the Guardians needed it more than I did and Caroline's imagination was stronger than most. So I was all right. A little sad that Caroline couldn't see me, but all right.

But then something truly wonderful happened.

Caroline's smile turned into confusion. She looked around at her room, running her hands through the mist. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed a book from off her nightstand and picked up a flashlight. She quickly flipped through the pages and started reading out loud.

"Misty Fog. A spirit of summer that can control fog, mist, rain, and clouds. A bit of a mischievous spirit, she loves nothing more than spreading mist and fog around," Caroline read. I looked on in shock. How could a children's book have my name in it? The cover of the book read Mythological Spirits, the same book she had earlier. I couldn't believe that people had actually heard of me. Caroline looked up, and she looked like she was in deep thought.

"Excuse me, is someone here?" she asked. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to show her, I made the fog thicker. Caroline gasped.

"Misty Fog?" she asked. Her eyes visibly widened and the book fell out of her hands. "Misty Fog!" she whispered, almost if she was shocked. I looked on shocked too.

"That's my name! She said my name!" I said in a loud whisper (you know, when you're trying to speak softly across a room). Caroline's mouth dropped open and I stopped the jubilation. Little Sand's hands flew to her mouth and I could small tears forming in her eyes. She couldn't, could she? I almost didn't want to believe it could be true. After three hundred years, I didn't want to be disappointed again.

"Can you hear me?" I asked. I almost felt like I was tricking myself. Very slowly, Caroline nodded her head. "Can you…can you see me?" I asked. Caroline nodded again and a large smile appeared on her face. A similar smile appeared on my face and I twirled around in joy.

"She sees me! She sees me!" I exclaimed. The winds whipped around me and I felt truly happy. Caroline looked about ready to jump up and start flying herself.

"You just made mist!" she exclaimed.

"I know!" I exclaimed.

"In my room!" she said back.

"I know!"

"I can't believe you're real!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Of course I am! Who else do you think brings mist and fog? You know those shapes you sometimes see in the sky?"  
"That's you?" Caroline asked.

"Yes! And remember when you made all of those snow sculptures? I was right there behind you," I said.

"That's so cool! But what about the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost?" Caroline asked, clearly still conflicted in her belief. I picked up the reindeer and eagerly gave it to Caroline. The Guardians needed a child who believed in all of them, and that child was going to be Caroline.

"Real-real-real! Every one of us is real," I said. Caroline smiled and jumped up and down on her bed in excitement.

"I knew it!" she shouted. I was happy, no, excited, no, I don't even know what the feeling was. Maybe joy? I didn't care at the time because I had a believer. A real, true believer. A knock on the door made both Caroline and I realize we were being too loud.

"Caroline, who are you talking to?" Caroline's mom asked. Caroline looked at me sheepishly and I motioned for her to tell her mom.

"Um, Misty Fog?" she hesitantly said. I heard a small chuckle and the issue was dropped. Caroline gave me a smile and then her eyes traveled to my shoulder. Her eyes widened and Little Sand flew over to Caroline.

"Are you a fairy?" Caroline asked. Little Sand nodded her head. I grinned. Even as a fairy, Little Sand disliked talking.

"This is Little Sand. She's a good friend of mine," I told Caroline. "She doesn't like to talk a whole lot." Little Sand flew around Caroline's head and Caroline laughed a little. I smiled. This was probably the first time she had been seen too.

A rumble of thunder jolted all three of us (most likely four if I could see Acionna). I looked outside at the gathering cloud of nightmare sand. This was bad. Caroline walked over and looked out the window. She looked scared.

"Misty, what's that?" Caroline asked. I racked my brain, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't scare the living daylights out of her.

"Long story short, the Boogeyman is trying to get kids to stop believing in us, and there aren't many kids that still believe," I said. Caroline nodded and I could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

"So, he's coming after me?" she asked. Wow, smart kid. I slowly nodded my head and Caroline looked back out the window. I could tell she was pushing the fear down.

"What are you going to do?" she asked me. I took a deep breath and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm going to try and stop him, but I'm also going to protect you. I promise," I said. Caroline nodded her head.

"So, let's go!" she said. I blinked in confusion. Did she say what I think she just said?

"You…want to help me?" I asked. Caroline nodded her head and I shrugged my shoulders. Who could say no to the puppy dog eyes she was giving me?

"Okay…you're probably safer with me anyway," I said in defeat. I picked up Caroline and flew out the window. Caroline laughed in delight as I flew down the street.

"This is so cool!" Caroline shouted. I smiled, but that smile faded when I saw nightmares coming directly for us. I held Caroline close and dived down, dodging the onslaught of nightmares. The nightmares came closer and surrounded us, forcing me to land. I touched down on top of a hill, the swarm of nightmares surrounding us. A haunting laugh came from above us and I saw Pitch. I gritted my teeth and Pitch smiled. He turned away and motioned for the nightmares to attack. Caroline clung to my side and a small whimper escaped from her.

"Misty, we're stuck," Caroline whispered. A weird sense of déjà vu skipped through my mind. Where had I seen this before?

Of course! Emily!

My mind raced back to that moment in time. We were in a similar situation now. Surrounded on all sides with no conceivable way out. I held Caroline close as I remembered what I had told Emily all those years ago.

"We're not stuck…we just need to use our imagination! That's it! My center!" I exclaimed. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it sooner. The raindrops, the clouds, and the way I managed to get out of any situation I somehow got myself into. In reality, it was really obvious. Caroline gave me a funny look, but I didn't care, for it just might save us. I grabbed Caroline and started to spin. The wind whipped around me and I spun faster and faster. Eventually, I had picked up enough speed to launch myself through the cloud of nightmares and scatter the sand in every direction. I stopped spinning and looked at Caroline and Little Sand. Both looked a little queasy.

"I guess I should've asked if you like spinny-rides," I apologized.

"No problem," Caroline said. Little Sand didn't comment, but hung onto my dress as we sped through town. Caroline scanned the houses and pointed to one.

"That's my friend Jane's house. She's been having nightmares for the past two days," Caroline said. I grinned. Another believer to help out.

"Then why don't we help her out?" I asked. I flew Caroline over to the window and she banged on it. The little girl from before opened her window and looked out. Her dark hair hung straight down and I realized she looked Asian.

"Caroline, is that you? How are you doing that?" Jane asked.

"Misty Fog is helping me out. Come on!" Caroline shouted. I flicked a raindrop in Jane's direction and her eyes lit up. She gave me a wave and then ran to her closet. In no time at all, she was dressed in a purple coat and boots. Figuring that it would be too difficult to carry two kids, I quickly painted a few flying carpets. Caroline hopped onto one and Jane hopped onto another and we flew off. Caroline pointed me in the direction of another house and we swooped down. Their friend Ian seemed to already be awake, and the second he glanced out the window, he grabbed a jacket and hopped onto Jane's flying carpet. He looked in my direction and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"Hi, I'm Ian," he said, rubbing his messy black hair. I smiled.

"I'm Misty Fog," I replied. We continued to fly on. Caroline pointed to another house. Ian knocked on the windows of two different rooms and two heads popped out.

"What!" James and Sarah exclaimed, their blond hair whipping in the wind. They looked at their floating friends in confusion, but a little raindrop on their heads helped clear things up. I painted another carpet and we flew off. The five kids behind me were laughing their hearts out, and I was pretty happy too. Five believers, my center figured out, and Pitch didn't have me. All in all, I felt pretty good.

_See, I told you that you would be seen, _Acionna said.

"You were right, again…" I mumbled. Annoying wind spirits that know everything…

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**Okay, bad ending, but let me clear up a few things first:**

**1. The swords are going not just a filler thing, they will be important.**

**2. Those other six lights belonged to six special kids who we all know.**

**3. I know Misty's center may seem a little off, but if you look at what she likes to do, it makes sense.**

**Now you may review to your heart's content and stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12: As Long As You Believe

**This is what I like to call the 'let's see how much important stuff we can cram into this thing before the readers go insane' chapter, because a lot of important stuff happens here. There's a small bookie detail mentioned, and it envolves the swords. I'll stop talking now and leave you with I don't own RoTG.**

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We flew around town, the kids having the time of their lives. Taking Caroline's carpet, I showed her how to do a loopty-loop. The other kids picked up the trick fast and that led to corkscrews and crazy deep dives. The skies rang with laughter.

"This is awesome Caroline!" Sarah shouted out.

"Yeah!" Ian agreed.

"Hey Misty, does Jack Frost exist?" Jane asked. I looked back and smiled.

"Yep, and so do the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny," I said, directing the carpets to the center of town. Jane smiled, but Caroline looked at me confused.

"What about Santa?" she asked. I looked at her sadly.

"He does too, but he's not exactly himself right now," I replied. Caroline nodded, and then proceeded to laugh when Sarah and James purposely ran into her carpet. She bumped them back and a new sport was invented: Bumper Carpets. It was Jane and Ian vs. Caroline vs. Sarah and James. The kids turned out to be really good flyers and continued the game until the center of town came into view. I'm still not sure who won, but Caroline was pretty ruthless.

We touched down and I high-fived the kids. Caroline tugged on my shoulder and I turned around. Standing across the street were the Guardians and six other kids. The Guardians looked bad. Tooth's wings weren't beating, Sandy was completely tan, Bunny had been reduced to a fluffy puffball, and Jack was using his staff to keep himself up. Baby Tooth perched on Jack's shoulder, unable to fly. The six kids looked worried, but the shock on their faces was pretty obvious. How many times do you see eight-year olds on flying carpets?

Jack looked up and we met eyes. He gave me a smile and I inwardly gasped. I knew that smile. My eyes traveled to his hair, still messy, but now white. His eyes were now a beautiful blue. Oh, moon help me, I wanted to run and pull him into a hug. I slowly walked to the center of the road, the kids following me and Jack did the same thing, the Guardians and kids following him. We met in the center of the road and I took a deep breath.

"There's a lot of things I could say, and there's a lot of things I want to say, but I'm not going to say them. Because all I really need to say is I'm sorry," I said. Jack smiled and I couldn't resist any longer. I threw my arms around Jack and a few tears leaked out of my eyes. Jack returned the favor and wrapped his arms around me.

"We didn't even get to say goodbye," Jack whispered in my ear.

"Maybe it's because we knew we weren't leaving each other," I whispered back. Somehow, we silently agreed to not mention our relationship until after this mess was dissolved. We pulled out of the embrace and turned to the bemused expressions of the Guardians and all eleven kids. A little boy with brown hair walked up to Jack and looked in my direction, puzzled.

"That's my cousin Jamie," Caroline whispered.

"Jack, is someone next to you? I can see her, but she's a little fuzzy," Jamie said. I looked at Jamie curiously. What did he mean I looked fuzzy? I shouldn't be fading yet.

A rumble of thunder alerted us all. We looked to the giant wave of fear and nightmares. Jamie and his friends stood their ground, as did Caroline and her friends. Pitch looked at us and laughed.

"I think it's time to finish what I started," Pitch said, looking in my direction. His eyes glowed and I felt myself rising up. Not again! Little Sand darted off my shoulder and Jack reached out to grab me, but he could barely lift himself up. Caroline screamed as I rose up to Pitch's level.

"Oh, did Misty not tell you? She's got some extra fear in her system," Pitch said. Jamie and his friends retaliated. My guess is they new exactly what was in my system. Jane, Ian, Sarah, and James backed away, no longer fearless. Only Caroline stayed put, looking at me with determination. Pitch laughed as I struggled to escape his control.

"Did you really think they would believe in you?" Pitch asked me. He turned to Caroline. "Why do you still believe child?" Pitch asked her. "Misty has my nightmares in her heart. That means that I've got a nice new spirit under my command." Pitch sneered and held up a fearling. This was it. I was a goner, nothing more than a fearling, a shadow of myself. Why did I ever believe anyone would believe in someone like me?

"I don't care," I heard a voice say. I looked down at Caroline. Her face was set and she stared Pitch down. There wasn't a shred of fear on her face.

"I don't care if Misty does. She's my friend, and she would never hurt any of us on purpose. Misty, don't listen to him! I believe in you, and I always will," Caroline said. Her words flooded through my system, a feeling that started from my heart and spread outward. I suddenly realized, I wasn't afraid. I understood Pitch's plan. He was never really targeting the Guardians. His only goal was to get me onto his side. Pitch realized my powers and knew that if I was on his side, nothing could stop him.

Pitch looked down at Caroline and sneered. "Well Caroline, scared yet?" Pitch let the fearling go and sent the mass of nightmares straight for Caroline. Almost as if we had planned it we both looked Pitch dead in the eye and together, we stared him down.

"I may be afraid of some things, but you don't scare me," we said together. Caroline brought up her hand and the second the nightmare mass touched Caroline's hand, I whipped my flute to my lips and blew. A clear note sounded from my flute and the nightmare sand turned to golden dreamsand on contact with Caroline's hand. The fearling stopped in its tracks. Everyone looked on in wonder and I looked at my hands. I had resisted Pitch's control. The splinter couldn't affect me any more. I straightened my spine and looked at Pitch, smiling wider than I had in a long time. I took three things from my dress and threw them in the direction of the Guardians.

"Sandy, Tooth, catch!" I shouted. Sandy and Tooth looked up and caught their respective items. To Sandy, I threw the phial of dreamsand and to Tooth, I threw the two swords. Sandy took out the stopper and drew the dreamsand out, his body turning back to gold. Tooth's wings started beating and she started to fly again. Pitch looked shocked, but quickly regained his composure.

"Get them!" he shouted. I sent out a gust of wind and spiraled down to the ground. Jack joined me in the air and blasted anything that looked remotely like a horse. We worked together to reduce the nightmare count. He looked in my direction and I laughed. Not a hollow or forced laugh like I had to usually do, but a real, true laugh. I couldn't help it. I was free, and no longer under Pitch's spell.

Sandy joined us, using his dreamsand whips on everything in sight. It's really amazing how just a little dreamsand can make such a difference. Sandy gave me a high-five and a little someone flew over to me. Little Sand settled onto my shoulder and Sandy gave me a wink. Something told me that he knew our little secret. I spun away and continued to fight.

I somehow found myself next to Tooth. She was slashing left and right, her swords cutting through the nightmares. The nightmares quickly learned that Tooth was to be avoided if they wanted to live. She looked at me and smiled.

"Forgive me?" I asked. Tooth scrunched her eyebrows and then gave me a grin.

"Considering you got my swords back, saved Little Sand, and you got five more kids to believe…yes, I forgive you. Now, stop talking and start hacking!" she shouted. I took her words to heart and started slamming my staff into nightmares. Some little part of me had forgotten that Tooth was a warrior queen, and it certainly was showing now.

I flew down next to a now full-grown Bunny who was causing destruction to a legion of nightmares. A quick blast of water got me into the mix and we fought. Bunny threw an egg grenade and the nightmare population decreased dramatically.

"Glad to have ya back, mate," Bunny said as I ducked from an incoming boomerang.

"Glad to be back, Bunny," I replied as I smashed my staff into a nightmare's face. Caroline ran over and touched the nightmares around us, turning them to dreamsand. I gave her a smile and then flew off. I met Jack in midair and we took off in Pitch's direction. Jack sent a blast of frost and I sent a gust of wind. Pitch blocked both and sent a wave of nightmares in our direction. Tooth slashed through the nightmares and Bunny popped out of a hole, sending his boomerangs in the direction of Pitch. Sandy flew in and used a dreamsand whip to knock Pitch off the roof. We flew down, our weapons at the ready.

"Give up Pitch. There's no place to hide," I stated. Pitch disappeared into the shadows and we glanced around, looking at the silhouettes of Pitch.

"Misty look out!" Jack yelled. I felt someone behind me and I turned around and saw Pitch's scythe come down on me. I closed my eyes and held up my staff for a blow-

But it never came.

I opened my eyes and saw that Pitch's scythe had been cut in half. A large man in a red coat, a big furry hat, and holding two scimitars stood over Pitch. Pitch looked at the man in horror and shock as he was thrown back. Pitch landed a few feet away and passed out. The man turned around and smiled.

"North!" we all shouted. I ran over with Jack, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy hot on my heels. The weirdest group hug ever ensured as we all collided. Somehow Jack and I got caught in the middle as North's burly arms wrapped around both of us. Little Sand and Baby Tooth flew out of the way to avoid being crushed.

"Ah, is good to be back, no?" North asked. I laughed and untangled myself from the group hug. Jack followed suite and reached out for my hand. I let him take it and I looked into his eyes.

"How long have you known?" I asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"Actually, I didn't quite realize it until now. For some reason, my memories never showed the time we spent together," he replied. I smiled and then felt something moving in my heart. I looked down and saw the splinter work it's way out of my chest. I guess I had conquered my worst fear during the fight. I pulled it out and closely examined it. No longer black, it was now a pale gray and it was bigger than I thought it was, about the size of my pinky. Hmm…that's no splinter.

Caroline came running over, the ten other kids following close behind. She looked at the splinter in my hand and I held it out to her.

"Do you want to do the honors?" I asked. Caroline touched the splinter and it slowly turned gold. It started swirling and a lot more dreamsand came out than I expected. That splinter must have been super concentrated.

But the dreamsand didn't head back to Sandy.

The dreamsand started swirling around me and I floated up into the air. It swirled higher and higher until it completely surrounded me. I felt myself changing, becoming stronger, and the fear finally leaving my body. I looked into the swirl of sand and I saw two figures sanding. One was a young woman in a long blue dress that flowed down to her ankles. Her hair was the color of a fast moving river and she smiled. I held up my hand and waved. The woman smiled and motioned to the girl standing next to her. The girl looked my age and had long, golden hair. Her long golden dress fluttered around her ankles and she smiled. I could hardly believe my eyes. I was looking at Acionna as she used to be, and Stella.

Stella motioned to a reflective surface between them and I looked at my self. My hair was the color that rivers should be, a rich blue that's hard to find. I was no longer wearing a dress, but an aqua colored shirt that stopped at my elbows and gray pants. My shirt had curved teal lines sweeping from my left shoulder down to my right hip. I looked at my eyes and found them the color of the sky, a brilliant blue. My amulet was shining and the raindrop was bright. This was the Misty that the world had forgotten. This was the real me.

Acionna gave me a smile and then walked over to me. Her image wavered and she turned back into the wind, but if I looked close, I could still see her. Stella walked over to me and she pointed to the night sky. The evening star glittered and Stella smiled. I smiled back. Stella was no longer just a Creation, she was the Spirit of the Evening Star. Stella started to fade and I reached for her. Stella gave me one last smile and disappeared. The evening star glowed bright and I knew she was going to be all right.

The sand started to fall away and I was lowered back to the ground. Everyone gathered looked at me in shock. When my feet touched the ground, I was a foot away from Jack. He took one glance and then he wrapped his arms around me. I brought my arms up around him and we embraced.

"I've missed you, Misty," Jack said to me.

"I've missed you too," I replied. When we stopped hugging each other and looked up, North looked shocked, Bunny and Tooth looked bemused, Sandy looked understanding, and the kids looked confused. Jamie looked at me and I could tell he could clearly see me. The splinter must have had another little side effect on those whose creative spark was fading. I looked fuzzy to them.

"Jack, who is that?" Jamie asked. Jack turned in his direction and gave him a mischievous smile.

"Well Jamie, this is Misty Fog…" Jack paused for a second and I gave him a grin.

"…my twin sister."

To this day, Jack and I still argue on whose jaw dropped the lowest.

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***watching angry mob disperse* Whew, thought they'd never leave. See, I told you everything would be okay. The next chapter will be the last one, but Misty's not going away anytime soon. You'll see what I mean. Please review and wait for the next update.**

**...that sounded really lame...**


	13. Chapter 13: A Guardian

**I'm so sorry, but this is the last chapter of this story. I'll spare you the details of this chapter ****and I don't own RoTG (if you haven't figured that out yet, I'm not speaking to you).**

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How about I start with the people whose jaws didn't drop to their chests? Those four people were Sandy (who most likely knew before we did), Baby Tooth, Little Sand (who probably had compared notes and decided it made sense), and, for some reason, Caroline (who if she was shocked, was hiding it really well). Everyone else ranged from mildly shocked (Tooth) to gaping mouths (pretty much everyone else). I've always thought that Bunny's mouth dropped the lowest, but Jack's convinced that it was North. Like I said, we still argue about it.

We let the jaw dropping continue for roughly ten seconds before we burst out laughing. Trust me, the expressions on their faces were seriously funny. That seemed to snap everyone out of their trance, because not five seconds later, we were swarmed. The kids crowded around us and Bunny face-palmed.

"Great…the Trickster Twins are really twins…" he mumbled. North let out a booming laugh and clapped Bunny on the back. Jack and I were mobbed by the kids, Caroline's friends on me, Jamie's friends on Jack. I think I caught their names, but I'm not sure if I heard one girl's name right (I think Jamie called her Cupcake). I looked up at Sandy and he shook his head, a ridiculously huge smile on his face. Oh, he is asking for it…

Eventually, Little Sand and Baby Tooth took pity on us and pulled the kids off of us. Jack and I stood up, large grins on our faces. Before anyone could blink, we rapidly threw a barrage of snowballs at the kids. The single largest snowball fight I had ever been in was the outcome of that. I moved off to the side and let Jack take over the snowball fight. North walked over and we watched the snowballs fly. He gave me a smile and gestured up at the clouds. Some of my best work had floated in while we were fighting.

"Your center?" he asked. I smiled and twirled my flute in my hand.

"I guess I just needed to find myself," I replied. North opened his hand and handed me something. A little wooden nesting doll was in his hand. It looked like a mini version of me with my river blue hair, amulet, aqua shirt, and gray pants. I picked it up and gave North a look.

"When did you find time to make this?" I asked. North gave me a wink and I rolled my eyes. I wasn't getting an answer any time soon. I tucked the nesting doll into my now existing pockets (I can still store stuff on my shirt, but my pants came with pockets, why argue?) and looked at my amulet. It pulsed lightly, the raindrop letting off a slight glow. I didn't necessarily need it, but it had become a part of me, even if it's original goal was something else.

A snowball hit me on the back of the head and I turned around. Jack, Sandy, and Caroline stood behind me. Caroline pointed a finger at Jack, Jack pointed a finger at Sandy, and Sandy pointed a finger at Caroline. I glanced at North and he shrugged his shoulders. I bent down and quickly made a few snowballs. Jack, Caroline and Sandy scattered.

"Think fast!" I shouted. Caroline couldn't run fast enough and she got hit with a couple. Jack managed to dodge the first one, but I made contact with the second one. I managed to get back at Sandy by rapidly firing thirty snowballs in his direction, but I soon learned that there's a reason why you don't let Sandy get vengeful. I had to do some fancy flying to avoid getting hit. Tooth came flying in with a swarm of Mini Fairies behind her. A rain of mini snowballs came down and we all had to jump for cover. The kids found the flying carpets (I really should've gotten rid of them) and let's just say the outcome wasn't pretty. Bunny's tunnels came in handy for avoiding any kind of flying projectile.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pitch trying to slink away. Sandy must have seen him too because he threw a whip in Pitch's direction. It caught around Pitch's waist and Sandy flung him towards the woods. The kids looked on confused while the Guardians leaped into action. Jack, Tooth and I rapidly flew after Pitch while Sandy, Bunny, and North went around to cut Pitch off. We emerged at a frozen pond with a river coming off on each side. My pond. We landed just as Pitch emerged from the woods. The six of us made a half-circle around Pitch and we stared him down.

"Leaving so soon?" I asked. Pitch sneered, but his face fell as his mind registered the rest of the Guardians.

"Don't you know it's rude to leave without saying good bye?" Tooth asked. Pitch scrambled away and it made me wonder what had happened the last time Tooth said that to Pitch. Considering that Tooth was fingering a quarter, I'm going to say it involves teeth.

"You can't get rid of me, not forever. There will always be fear in the world," Pitch sneered. North stepped forward, his face not showing a shred of fear.

"So what?" he asked. "As long as one child believes-" North glanced at me and I nodded. "And imagination is present, we will guard the children with our very lives."

"Haven't you guessed that by now?" Jack asked.

"If that's true, then what are they doing here?" Pitch asked, gesturing to the forest. I heard a whinny and some nightmares came walking out. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. I certainly wasn't afraid. I looked at Jack and he shrugged his shoulders. Bunny rolled his eyes and hopped forward.

"Haven't y'a guessed it by now? We're not afraid," Bunny said. Pitch's eyes widened and I had a light bulb moment.

"They're feeling your fear," I said. Pitch's eyes widened and he ran away like nightmares were on his heels, and that's not far from the truth. The nightmares attacked and we watched as Pitch was swallowed up. They spun away and disappeared into the sky. I looked up and waved in Pitch's direction.

"Have a safe trip home!" I shouted. I felt someone ruffle my hair and I looked up at Bunny. I rolled my eyes and playfully punched him. Tooth flew over and gave me a hug. The force behind the hug was strong enough to make me do a three-sixty. I laughed and returned the hug. North turned to me and smiled.

"Are you ready Misty? Just to make it official," North said. I nodded my head.

"Then it is time you take-where is the book?" North asked in a panicked voice. He looked left and right really fast and then desperately rummaged through his pockets looking for a snow globe. I desperately wanted to laugh, but managed to control myself. Jack, on the other hand, slightly chuckled.

"I think it's at the pole," Jack said, trying, and failing, to keep a straight face. Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy also had big, stupid grins on their faces. North glared at us.

"This is not funny! We cannot do Oath without book!" he said. That broke whatever control we had and we burst out laughing. Tooth was using her wings for support as a high-pitched giggle escaped. Sandy was wiping tears out of his eyes and even Bunny's sides were shaking. Jack had resorted to leaning on me while I held my sides. North continued to glare and he crossed his arms.

"You are all on naughty list," he mumbled. That only made us laugh ten times harder. Jack looked up at North and managed to shrug his shoulders, his sides still shaking.

"Why does it matter for us? We're always on the naughty list," Jack said between gasps. Eventually, we managed to stop snickering and Bunny hopped over to North.

"Mate, we've done it without the book before. We've got witnesses," Bunny said, gesturing behind me. I turned around and saw all eleven kids walking onto the pond, Caroline and Jamie at the front. Jack moved over to where the Guardians stood and Caroline moved next to me. North sighed.

"Very well…will you, Misty Fog, vow to watch over the children of the world?" North began.

"To guard them with your life," Bunny continued.

"Their hopes, their wishes, their dreams?" Tooth added.

"For they are all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be," Jack finished. I looked at Caroline. She was smiling wide and she nodded her head. Little Sand settled onto my shoulder and I glanced up at the sky. The moon was bright and I could almost make out a smiling face. A little to the right was a shining star that seemed to wink at me. The winds slowly swirled around me and my mind was made up. The pause was really for dramatic affect than anything else.

"I will."

"Then congratulations, Misty Fog, for you are now and forevermore…a Guardian!" The pond exploded in cheers. Jack picked me up and pulled me into the biggest hug he had ever given me, even when I was a human. The kids behind me cheered loudly and Caroline gave me a high-five. It was official. I was a Guardian. Caroline's eyes turned skyward and she pointed at the sky.

"Look!" she shouted. I looked up and I saw a large sleigh come in for a landing on the ice. Eight reindeer on the front pulled it and it resembled a fighter jet than a sleigh. The kids looked on in wonder.

"Is that Santa's sleigh?" Jane asked.

"Yeah," Sarah replied.

"Looks more like a jet to me," James replied. North walked over to the sleigh and started looking the whole thing over, from the wings to the skies. He did a check up on all the reindeer and he motioned to us. Jack nodded his head and turned to the kids.

"Well, it's been nice seeing you, but we gotta go. See you guys later!" Jack shouted. As the rest of the kids waved goodbye, Caroline walked up to me. She looked a little downcast.

"You're going?" she asked. I kneeled down to Caroline's level and nodded my head. Caroline took a deep breath in and looked into my eyes. Her eyes were a little watery and she looked ready to cry.

"You're coming back, right?" she asked. I gave her a smile and nodded my head.

"Of course I am, Caroline. Why wouldn't I?" I asked. Caroline bit her lip and a few tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Every kid stops believing at some point, but I promised I wouldn't. What if I do stop believing?" she asked. "If I can't see you-"

"Caroline, do you stop believing in the moon when it darkens?" I asked. Caroline shook her head.

"And do you stop believing in the stars when it's cloudy?" I asked. Caroline shook her head again, this time a small smile forming on her face.

"I'm going to steal a quote now: seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing. Caroline, you believed in me, even when you couldn't see me, and even if you can't see me, I'll always be there. All of us will always be there," I said. Caroline looked up and she threw her arms around me. I was a little shocked at first, but I returned the favor, wrapping my arms around the little girl. We stayed like that for a little bit, and then I stood up, knowing it was time to go. I hopped into the sleigh and stood next to Jack. North snapped the reins and we were off.

"See you guys soon!" I shouted. Caroline started running after the sleigh and waved her hand in my direction.

"Bye Misty!" Caroline shouted. Jack looked in my direction and his signature smirk was on his face.

"You know, I've been having a weird sense of déjà vu for the past three or four days. It kinda reminds me of when I became a Guardian," Jack said as we sped off. I turned his way and shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe it's because we're twins," I said. Jack put a hand on my shoulder and we watched the world spin away. As North took out his snow globe in preparation for heading to the North Pole, I turned my eyes skyward to the evening star. It gave me a wink. The future was going to be uncertain, but at least I knew one thing.

My name is Misty Fog, and I'm a Guardian.

* * *

**It's finally done! First off, thank you to those who have read and reviewed, you guys are amazing. Secondly, anyone recognize the quote? If you do, please review.**

**Don't worry, this isn't the last of Misty, Caroline, Little Sand and the rest. I'm doing a oneshot series based on this fanfic so keep your eyes peeled. I'll update this fanfic as soon as the oneshot is up. Until then, thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14: IT'S UP!

**It's up! My oneshot series is called "Frost, Fog, and Four Guardians". Now, the first chapter stinks, but it will get better. I'm taking suggestions for chapters though reviews and PM's so read and thank you!**

**Lunrav14**


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